Ticklish Shenanigans
by Yoshachu Scorchachu
Summary: A roleplay of escalating ticklish shenanigans, mainly featuring the skeleton brothers. New chapters will be uploaded every Wednesday and Saturday. (WARNING: Will contain NSFW bits, but each chapter will have a warning for anything unsuitable for young readers.)
1. Pun-ishment

**Author's Note:** Hello, all! I know it's been such a long time since I've last uploaded any new stories or chapters to existing stories. But now I will be making this new story with consistent uploads. Just so I don't burn myself out, I will be uploading two chapters of this story a week, every Wednesday and Saturday. Mind you, these won't be just willy-nilly tickle drabbles; there's a story to go along with it as well.

Of course, I'm not the only one who wrote this story. Credit also goes to my dear friend and co-writer Karnelia here on FF. This was originally a three-years-and-running roleplay that we've decided to convert into a story for you all to enjoy! Treat this as a... different timeline. Not an AU per se. It all takes place post-Pacifist Route- except for the first ten chapters or so - and there will be headcanons, original characters, and other elements thrown into this to make it a story that separates itself apart from Undertale canon, so be aware of that.

One more thing: some chapters will have some NSFW elements in them, but I will provide warnings in the beginning of each chapter for bits that contain elements not suitable for children. Tickle fetishism will pop up quite frequently throughout the story, but other than that this is a PG-13 story overall.

Well, with all that out of the way, I hope you all enjoy it!

Character Roles

Yoshachu Scorchachu ~ Papyrus  
Karnelia ~ Sans

* * *

Sans stepped out of his workshop, slippers softly crunching into the snow. He didn't let himself relax until he felt the weighty clicking of the lock, pocketing his key. Walking up to the front door, the skeleton glanced to his left, knowing Papyrus would be done with his patrol shift soon. Gaze lingering for a moment, he finally returned his focus and headed inside and flopped onto the couch.

He was no closer to finding the identity of the anomaly than before, but the usual weariness had crept up on him again, and he figured he could take a break. Besides, seeing his brother would make him feel better and give him a little more energy. His smile slightly widened at the thought of cracking a few puns at Papyrus's expense.

~!~!~!~

About ten minutes later, Papyrus came home, appearing to be a little more tired than usual and lightly panting.

"Oh, wowie... Undyne really gave me a workout today..." He sighed as he flopped down on the couch, but yelped when he realized Sans was there. "What the—? Sans! What are you doing sleeping on the couch again?! We talked about this!"

~!~!~!~

Sans grunted softly, startled out of his light snooze. "oh, hey bro." He scooched up a bit against the armrest, giving Papyrus space to sit. A twinge of guilt rippled through him, but he didn't let it show, instead closing his eyes again with an exaggerated shrug. "heh, well, my bed is _sofa_ away, and I was _bone tired_." He peeked an eye open.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus groaned loudly and buried his face in his hands. "Saaaaans!"

~!~!~!~

"by the way, you seem a bit out of breath, not that that's a _lung_shot for a skeleton." Sans slid his hands behind his head, now fully relaxed again. "did undyne work you _to the bone_, or what?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus stood up quickly and slammed a boot into the ground. "Sans, I just got home and I'm tired! Your sinful puns are only making the fatigue worse!"

~!~!~!~

Sans continued to smile up at Papyrus, noting that he did indeed look more worn out than normal. And now that he had his brother so riled, Sans felt the urge to ease up and just quietly enjoy his company ... but ... he was having too much fun. He decided to push his luck just a little more. "sorry if you're _tired_ of them bro, but i haven't _exhausted_ my pun repertoire yet."

~!~!~!~

Papyrus glared down at Sans, shooting daggers out of his sockets. Suddenly, an evil grin stretched across his face as he was struck with an idea. "Wowie, Sans. You sure do enjoy laughing, don't you?"

~!~!~!~

A pang of warning shot through Sans — something was odd about the look Papyrus was giving him and the tone he used, but now he couldn't quite stop himself. "heheh, well you know me, i've got a pretty big _funny bone_." He braced himself; three bone jokes in such a short span was sure to cause a riot.

~!~!~!~

"In that case, let me ask you a question: why did the Great Papyrus' brother laugh?" Papyrus activated his magic and turned Sans' SOUL blue, pinning him down on the couch, still wearing that uncharacteristic grin.

~!~!~!~

"ghh!" Sans eye sockets slightly widened, his hands pulling out from behind his head to gently clutch at his SOUL. It wasn't that the sensation was unfamiliar — or even uncomfortable — it was just so unexpected. Did his brother want to start a fight right here on the couch? No, that seemed silly, he was only pinned in place by gravity. If he wasn't so wary about his brother's next move, this would be pretty comfy. His mind finally processed the question Papyrus had asked and Sans felt his grin briefly falter. "u-uh, because the great papyrus told him a really great joke...?" He knew that wasn't the answer. He knew he was about to find out the hard way.

~!~!~!~

"Because the Great Papyrus tickled his funny bone!" Whipping off his red gloves, Papyrus dove in, tickling Sans' ribs. "NYEHEHEHEHE!"

~!~!~!~

Sans would have jumped if he could from the initial shock, quickly curling up and wrapping his arms around himself protectively. "kkhehehaa! w-wahahait! not thahat!" His ribs were incredibly sensitive and Papyrus's fingers were long and nimble — a dangerous combination. "ahaha, y-you gahat mehe, bro!"

~!~!~!~

"Oh, you think I'm gonna stop just like that? Think again, brother! Nyehehe!" He tickled a bit faster, sliding his hands under his jacket and shirt to scrape his fingertips along Sans' bare ribs.

~!~!~!~

Sans realized with a certain amount of dread that he was really in for it. He had pushed Papyrus's buttons a little too hard this time, so perhaps he deserved it, but he was already starting to panic. "pap, noho, wahaiiieee-!" he outright squealed as his brother's fingers made direct contact. "hahaaha! ihit's too muhahach! eeehee!" Instinctively, he pushed against his brother's hands as he squirmed.

~!~!~!~

"Quit trying to avoid your punishment, otherwise I'll tickle a place you won't be able to protect!" To prove his point, he pinned Sans' ankles down on the couch and began to slip off his slippers. Unable to sit up as a result to the gravity spell weighing him down, Sans couldn't push Papyrus away.

~!~!~!~

"ahahaaa … ghnn!" His eyes snapped open, watching Papyrus apprehensively. The smaller skeleton tried to sit up, but found his brother's magic had been perfectly calculated to prevent even that. "p-pap, wait, it's not like i could help it ... it's reflex, you know?" he entreated, already curling his toes. "i'm sorry, okay? i, uh..." _Don't do it. Don't say it_, his mind told him. "...i don't need to remind you how _sans_itive i am."

He regretted everything.

~!~!~!~

"And there goes my last sliver of patience with you!" Papyrus dug his fingers into his socked soles and arches, tickling fast and hard.

~!~!~!~

"i'm sorryyyyyheheheee!" Sans tugged his feet against his brother's grip to no avail, giving the couch a helpless pound with his fist. "ahahahaaa! hahave some mehercy, bro!" Papyrus's fingers were absolutely devastating, Sans didn't know how much more he could take.

~!~!~!~

"Once I feel you have learned your lesson, I shall set you free. But until then..." He smirked as he began tickling his toes.

~!~!~!~

"oh gosh, noho...!" Sans figured he couldn't talk his way out of this, and without any other reasonable options, resigned himself to endure Papyrus's payback in full. His feet violently twitched at the first touch to his toes, the reflexive tugging becoming a little more frantic. "kkhnhnn — ahaa! heheehee!" Another squeal was bubbling inside of him, threatening to break out from his giggling. His fingers gripped the sleeve cuffs of his jacket and he buried his face in the cloth.

~!~!~!~

"And now the socks come off!" Papyrus slipped off Sans' socks before resuming his tickle onslaught, his pointed fingertips scraping against bare bony soles and toes tickling like mad.

~!~!~!~

"nonono...!" he mumbled into his sleeves as his feet were bared. Papyrus had always been careful with him because of his low HP, he knew his brother would never hurt him. But with this, Papyrus could get as ruthless as he wanted and Sans would ultimately be fine. The squeal escaped. "aiiiiiieeeehehee! i canhahan't tahake ihit! ahahehehehaaa, pleahease!"

~!~!~!~

"Hey, Sans, I remember when you used to do this to me all the time when we were baby bones!" Chuckling deviously, he began ticklishly wiggling his big toe. "This little piggy went to market...~"

-

Sans couldn't fathom how such a gentle grip on just one toe could be so maddening. The sensation stole his entire focus, intensified by Papyrus's teasing. His vocal range breached a new height with a squeak that surprised even him. "no mohore, plehehease!" Fingers digging into the couch cushions, he shook his head frantically. "eeeeeheheheee~! pleaseplease!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus ignored him, continuing to gently wiggle and tickle his toes, humming the rest of the rhyme. "This little piggy stayed home. This little piggy had Face Steak. This little piggy had none."

~!~!~!~

Sans didn't know what to do with his hands. They felt so useless, alternating between feebly pounding the couch, hugging himself, and covering his face as he fidgeted and squeaked — nothing alleviated the flaring tingles that the gentle toe-tickling produced. "nohoho, pleeehehease...!" He begged, voice tinging on a whine. "pahapyrus, i'm sorryhehe!"

-

"And do you remember what this little piggy went?" He grinned evilly as he finally reached Sans' pinky toe, wiggling it slowly as he awaited a response.

~!~!~!~

"kkheheheh~! ghh, you're kihillin' me hehere, bro!" His fingers curled in anticipatory stress. "mayhebe hehe doesn't wahant to go home t-today? maybe h-he wahants to aheh-accept his brohother's apahalogy...!"

~!~!~!~

"Nope! This last little piggy went WEEWEEWEE ALL THE WAY HOME! NYAHAHAHAHA!" He cackled as he tickled furiously all over his foot and toes, leaving no area untickled for long.

~!~!~!~

"gaaaaaahahaaaa~!" Sans writhed, tears beading in the corners of his tightly closed sockets. Maybe he had a little retribution coming, but did he really deserve this? The tickling consumed him, rationality had fled, and before he knew it, his magic reacted in desperation, turning Papyrus's SOUL blue as well. He only realized what he was doing just before nearly thrusting a quivering hand away from himself, which may have thrown Papyrus into the wall had he followed through — a mortifying thought. Instead, he quickly released his magic from his brother's SOUL, continuing to vent through laughter and now slowly dripping tears.

~!~!~!~

The activation and deactivation on his own SOUL was too quick Papyrus hadn't noticed, though he had felt a little funny, but he brushed it off. After a few more moments of tickling, he finally stopped, but kept his brother's legs pinned. "So, brother, what have we learned today?"

~!~!~!~

Sans took in a gasping breath, panting heavily. He felt like he'd gone through a rigorous workout, and yet he hadn't moved an inch from his position on the couch. Feet still tingling, he wiped at his eyes with his sleeves, croaking out, "to leave you alone when you say to."

~!~!~!~

"Aaaaand?" Papyrus began to gently tickle under his toes again.

~!~!~!~

Sans jolted, and not just from the renewed contact. _And? And what?_ His mind reeled in panic. _No!_ "gheheh! aahaa! p-pap, you cahan't be serious..! d-don't take myhehe puns awahay from mehehe!" He flinched, no that was an extreme thought, his brother wasn't that mean, right? "n-no, wahait...!" It was so hard to think with the fingers mercilessly teasing beneath his toes. Finally he recalled everything that led up to his predicament. _Right!_ "no more sleeping on the couch! ahahaaaa! pleasenomohohore!" Ironically, now he wanted nothing more than to curl up and take a nap.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus snickered a bit under his breath. "What else?~" He started tickling a bit faster with each passing moment.

~!~!~!~

"kkhggahahaha...!" Sans momentarily sputtered in shock, realizing Papyrus was just toying with him now. He jerked on his ankles as the sensation grew more intense. "hhn-hahahaa! plehease bro, i'm b-beggihing you! whahat do you wahant from meehehee!?" He gripped the fabric of his shirt just above his SOUL with shaking hands, feeling absolutely helpless.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus grinned deviously. "Exactly what you had said: no more puns for ... let's say a week. What do you say, brother?" He glided his fingers agonizingly light and slow up and down his soles.

~!~!~!~

Sans covered his mouth, eyes wide in horror. Why had he said that? Why had his brain jumped to that idea, why did he give his brother that notion while he was completely at Papyrus's mercy? Or in this case, lack thereof.

Closing his eyes, he shivered at the new pace his brother subjected him to, toes wiggling and curling in his ticklish distress. "aaaaha...~ that's just b-brutahal, bro ... gheh...!" He looked up pleadingly. "h-how ahabout juhust the rest of the nihight?"

~!~!~!~

"One full week starting tomorrow or I'll be tickling you for the rest of the night, brother!" Suddenly, he jumped into fast, merciless tickle torture all over his toes.

~!~!~!~

Sans responded with a suffering whine. He hated making promises and commitments, much less being forced into them. "ah! gaaaahahaahaaaaa, stahap, ahahaaa!" It was unbearable ... but he couldn't let himself be tickled into submission. Papyrus couldn't really keep this up for that long, could he? He had endured even when he thought he couldn't, surely he could assert himself even if he had to take a little more.

"you've gahahtten me bahack alreheady!" he boldly protested, thumping his head lightly against the armrest. "ghnn-nahaha, thihis isn't fahaaair!"

Deep down, he knew he was doomed.

~!~!~!~

"Oh, you think this isn't fair? No, no, brother..." He climbed off him and rushed to another room before coming back holding a couple feathers, a paintbrush, a soft scrub brush, and an electric toothbrush. "THIS is unfair!"

~!~!~!~

Sans struggled to try to sit up in Papyrus's brief absence, but found his brother's magical concentration was too good. If he wasn't so anxious, he'd be proud — Papyrus did train very diligently after all. With a slightly discouraged sigh, he rubbed his feet against the couch, trying to dispel the lingering tingles.

When he spotted what his brother held when he returned, Sans's rebellious confidence completely shattered, his bones suddenly feeling numbly hollow with dread.

"p-pap ... okay ... o-okay," he said quietly, unable to keep the nerves from quavering in his voice, "i might be able to hold off the puns for a week." He curled up as much as he could. "just ... let me go, huh?"

~!~!~!~

"Hmm... You may say that, brother, but do you actually mean it? Let's make absolutely sure you hold true to your word." He chuckled as he pinned Sans' ankles back down, and he turned on the electric toothbrush, taunting his brother with the loud sound and the vibrating, twirling bristles.

~!~!~!~

Sans couldn't help a small whimper as his ankles were dragged back to such a vulnerable position. He'd never really been tickled with much else than fingers before, and never for this duration, he wasn't too keen on finding out what it was like. Wincing at the sound the toothbrush made, he couldn't look away, already feeling pangs of what it might do. "i mean it! honest, bro!" He hugged his arms around his ribs; at the very, _very_ least, he could still attempt to protect himself there if Papyrus decided to switch it up.

~!~!~!~

"Let's make absolutely sure! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" He began scrubbing the toothbrush fast and hard up and down his soles, the bristles tickling worse than Sans had originally thought.

~!~!~!~

It was indeed very different than what Sans had expected, and in the worst way. His entire frame lurched as the bristles were pushed against his soles, but the most maddening thing was the constant vibrations that resonated straight into his bones; it was absolute torture.

"aaaaaaahaaaaaaaahahahaaaaa~! nohohonononono, turn ihihit off!" he wailed, mindlessly pummeling the couch with his fists. "ahehe, dohohon't lihike it! stahahap! p-pleheheeehease, stahahappit!"

~!~!~!~

"SNEAK ATTACK, NYEH!" Catching Sans off guard, he pounced on his brother's chest and pinned his arms down with his knees before scrubbing the brush along his bare ribs.

~!~!~!~

"hh-ghh!" Sans barely had time to register the transition, let alone brace for it. "gahahaaahahaeheheehaaaaaaa! naha—! nahat there, oh gahahahahaa—!" He thrashed, his now free legs kicking in desperate, ticklish agony. "pleeeahehe...—! pleheasepleasepleheheeheease, dohon't do thihis to meeheheheee! hahahahahaa~!" He didn't think he could feel more helpless as he weakly tugged on his arms, unable to claw out what felt like an angry bee trapped in his ribcage.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus grabbed one of the feathers and began stroking it along his cheeks, neck, and under his chin, still tickling his ribs with the toothbrush. "Nyehehe! You're laughing like a little baby bones! Perhaps I shall treat you as such as well! Coochie coochie coo!~"

~!~!~!~

"kkgghehah~!" Sans flinched at the feather's touch, tossing and turning his head, his already impossibly wide grin quivering. "ahaahehe cahahan't tahahake ihihihit...—!" His breaths were heavy with the threat of sobs, eyes watering again. "ahaaaa—! n-nahat thahat!" Somehow, Papyrus's cooing made everything worse, the tingles throbbing more intensely with every word, reminding him of how powerless he was in this moment.

If only he hadn't challenged his brother, he lamented with as much coherent thought as he had left.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus chuckled, this time sounding sympathetic. He stopped tickling and climbed off, subsiding the gravity spell on Sans' SOUL. "Okay, I believe you have been tortured long enough. Are you okay?"

~!~!~!~

"nnhnn..." Sans panted, exhaling breathy whimpers. He tried to scrabble to a sit once more as he felt the pressure lift away from his SOUL, but his arms trembled and he slumped back right where he was with a quiet groan. "ghh ... that was awful..." Everything was still highly sensitive, even the last of his tears that had shook free from his sockets tickled as they strolled down his cheeks. He hurriedly wiped them away, tilting his head to look at his brother. "i…. ...yeah, bro, just ... could you get me some water? please?"

He couldn't be mad at Papyrus, but he still felt his brother went beyond what he deserved. A growing sense of karmic retribution was gnawing inside of him and he glanced at the remaining unused tools he had been lucky enough to avoid. Perhaps his brother should find out what they felt like. When his energy was recovered.

~!~!~!~

"But of course, dear brother!" He trotted to the kitchen and returned shortly with a glass of cold water, helping Sans sit up before handing him the glass. "I suppose I went a little overboard. My apologies, Sans. I honestly don't know what came over me."

~!~!~!~

"thanks, papyrus," he said quietly, accepting the help and the glass, taking a few relieving sips. His breathing calmed and posture slacked into his usual relaxation. "i must have really—" he faltered. _Hit a nerve with you_ his thoughts finished for him. This was going to be tough. "uh, you must have really been annoyed with me, heh. how'd you get so good at that, anyway? i mean, it was bad for _me_, but...," he trailed off in a mumble.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus shrugged. "Well, sometimes Undyne likes to challenge me to little scuffles and contests, and tickle fights happen to be one of her favorites. I learned through her techniques and trying to retaliate against her myself."

~!~!~!~

Sans blinked up at him in interest, he hadn't heard that about the Captain before. Somehow the image of her and his brother locked in an intense ticklish battle genuinely amused him and he chuckled with arched eyes. "heheh, wow, well, i guess it was pretty effective bro." Part of him was also happy to realize this meant Papyrus was still ticklish as well. He hadn't really done too much since his brother was a babybones, so he hadn't been sure if he'd outgrown it.

"that's not the reason you came home so tired today, is it?" he asked, drinking the last of his water.

~!~!~!~

"Erm!..." For a moment, he looked alarmed, almost scared, before shaking his head and letting a louder laugh than usual, obviously sounding forced. "Of course not, Sans! Besides, just because we have these tickle fights that doesn't mean in the slightest that I am ticklish — I MEAN!..." Stumbling over his own words, he tried to backpedal. "F-Forget I just said that! We were just having our usual sparring! YES, THAT'S IT! SPARRING! HA HA HA!" He let out another forced laugh as he grinned nervously.

~!~!~!~

It was all Sans could do to hold back a snicker. Papyrus must be _really_ ticklish if he was panicking this much. "of course, bro." Setting his empty glass down on the floor, Sans eyed his socks on the other side of the couch where Papyrus had discarded them earlier. Normally he'd just ask for his brother to hand them over, but now he purposely leaned over his brother's lap, very casually and very lightly brushing his fingers against Papyrus's knee, reaching and grabbing his socks. Pulling himself back, he began to put them on. It was funny how much more secure they made him feel now.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus let out a startled yelp and clenched his teeth together at the light touch against his knee, leaping so high he almost bounced Sans off him and to the ground. He cleared his throat and looked away, trying to brush off his reaction, and his cheekbones were lightly tinted with an embarrassed orange hue.

~!~!~!~

"hey, papyrus," Sans began, slyly gazing at him with his lazy grin, one hand draping off the armrest, "do you know what I like to do more than laugh?"

~!~!~!~

Crossing his arms, Papyrus rolled his eyes — or lack thereof — in annoyance. "Oh, stars, where to begin..."

~!~!~!~

The smaller skeleton chuckled with a mild shrug, subtly clenching his fingers as he turned his brother's SOUL blue, softly flicking his wrist to gently push Papyrus down against the couch cushions, pinning him there. "i like to make other people laugh," he finished, sliding off his seat, and gingerly snatching his brother's scarf away.

~!~!~!~

Eyes widening, Papyrus scrambled to sit back up, but the weight of his SOUL keeps him pinned. He began to panic as he tried to reason with his brother. "S-Sans?! What are you doing? D-Don't do anything! Let me up!"

~!~!~!~

"sorry, bro, but i've got a b—" He stopped himself, maybe he had the upperhand now, but he would keep his promise, even if technically Papyrus had said his pun privileges would be revoked starting tomorrow. "...a score to settle." He threaded the scarf underneath the cushion that Papyrus's legs rested on, and climbing onto his brother's knees, he pushed off his brother's large boots, knotting the scarf around Papyrus's ankles.

With Papyrus being so much lankier than he was — and physically stronger and fitter — Sans hoped it would be enough to keep his brother contained. He glanced at his brother's arms, but he was more concerned about getting kicked than grabbed.

~!~!~!~

"S-SANS!" He began struggling, trying to free his ankles. But once the slightest sound of a rip was heard, he stopped immediately. "OH, NO! I-I mustn't tear my scarf! SANS, LET MY ANKLES GO!"

~!~!~!~

Sans was a little concerned about the scarf's fragility, but he swore to himself then and there he would fix it if anything happened to it. "i don't think so," he answered casually, though he turned away from his brother's feet, sitting cross-legged at his hips. "how about we prove how not-ticklish the great papyrus is, hm?" He hovered fingers above his brother's exposed spine. "i know i'd be really impressed to see that." Lowering his hand, he slowly and softly trailed a fingertip up and down.

~!~!~!~

"Nngh!..." Papyrus gritted his teeth and covered his mouth with his hands, lightly trembling as he struggled to hold in his laughter. "S-See? Th-The Great P...Papyrus isn't t-t-ticklish!"

~!~!~!~

Sans arched his eyes, not letting up in the slightest. "wow, you're so cool, bro!" He gingerly explored each vertebrae, softly prodding into the slight spaces between.

~!~!~!~

Grunting and squeaking with each poke between the grooves, his spine started to tremble and jerk slightly. "S-So you can stop n-nohow!... Hnnngh!..."

~!~!~!~

Sans was a bit mesmerized by Papyrus's reactions, it was rare to see his brother try and restrain himself. "hold on, i wanna try something," he said almost playfully, picking up the paintbrush from among the things Papyrus had previously gathered. With genuine curiosity, he softly danced and twirled the bristles over the length of his brother's spine.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus squealed loudly and began bouncing his backbone around, unable to contain his laughter any longer. "N-NYEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA! SANS, STAHAHAHAP! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

~!~!~!~

Sans actually did stop, grin widening ever so slightly. So many jokes ran through his head, but he painfully denied himself every one, instead only teasing, "oh, wow, pap, i guess you're ticklish after all, huh?"

~!~!~!~

"I-I!..." He groaned softly in defeat. "Yes... B-But I'm not nearly as ticklish as you are! So be sure not to push your luck too far, brother!"

~!~!~!~

Sans twitched at the subtle threat, but shrugged it off. "how about i show you as much mercy as you showed me? then maybe we'll be even." He closed one eye in a wink before turning around, reinforcing the restraint on Papyrus's legs by planting himself on his shins and gently setting his fingertips against his brother's soles.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus yelped and curled his toes, trying to yank his legs out from under his brother. "S-Sans, don't! I-I had a perfectly good reason to tickle you! This is unjust!"

~!~!~!~

Sans was glad he'd chosen to tie Papyrus's legs instead of his hands, or he might've not been able to hang on with the taller skeleton's struggling. Lightly swirling a fingertip in a circular motion in the middle of one foot, he turned his head back to look at Papyrus. "you tickled me to tears, bro. just for a few harmless puns? maybe i went too far tonight, but so did you."

~!~!~!~

His foot twitched and squirmed as he giggled at a high pitch, hands gripping the sides of the couch cushions. "Nyehehehehehe! I-I sahahaid I was sahaharry! Ahahahahaha!"

~!~!~!~

"i know," Sans replied. "i just haven't accepted your apology yet." Turning back to his task, he now used all of his fingers to glide from heels to toes and back. He really did enjoy the sound of Papyrus's laughter. Even if Sans was drawing it out by force, it was so warm and positive, he felt his spirits lifting.

~!~!~!~

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ST-STAHAHAHAP! IT TIHIHIHICKLES! NYEHEHEHAHAHAHA!" Papyrus laughed loudly as he struggled to flee, but the weight of his SOUL and Sans sitting on his legs pinned him in place. He began to bang his fists against the couch as he threw his head back.

~!~!~!~

"oh good, that means i'm doing it right." Sans chuckled, continuing his motions for a few more moments. His fingers stopped at his toes, and he gingerly gripped one set, prying them back. Using his other hand, he prodded and traced around underneath with careful precision and curiosity. Sans wasn't sure he'd be able to match Papyrus's ruthless techniques, but lazily exploring was suiting him just fine at the moment.

~!~!~!~

Caught in a strong, uncontrollable fit of squeals and giggles as he struggled to gain control of his toes again, Papyrus was having trouble uttering a plea. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA! NO-HAHAHAHAHA! NOT THAHAHARE! NYAHAHAHAHA! STA-HAHAHAHA!"

~!~!~!~

"ah, these toes are still pretty sensitive then, huh?" He gently gripped the big toe between finger and thumb, gingerly rolling it between them. "you know, i always did wonder about that human rhyme. why do they associates toes with pigs? is it because their toes are all fleshy like the rest of them? oh well." He glanced back at Papyrus with a genuine smile. "it always made you laugh, anyway."

~!~!~!~

Papyrus giggled uncontrollably as he balled his hands up into tight fists and holds them up to his chest, obviously not knowing what else to do with them. "W-WELL, I'M GLAHAHAHAD ONE OF UHUHUS IS ENJOYING HIMSEHEHELF! NYEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEE!" He let loose a squeaky snort.

~!~!~!~

"oh thanks bro, it means so much to me that you care." He was teasing, but it was actually a true statement about his brother in general, so it didn't come out quite as sarcastically as he intended. He chuckled. "that's adorable, by the way. can undyne get you to make a sound like that?" He shifted his fingers to the next toe, and after half a minute, the next, making his way down the line to the pinky toe.

~!~!~!~

"NYEEEHEHEHEHEHE! N-NOHOHOPE, ONLY YOU CAHAHAN! AHAHAHAHEHEHEHE!" He kept wiggling his toes around as he giggled, the occasional snort slipping out from time to time.

~!~!~!~

Sans finally outright smirked, cradling the smallest toe between his fingers. He firmly gripped Papyrus's foot before softly scratching the toe with his fingertips, wiggling, digging under and spidering over. "i gotcha now, pap, heh. kitchy kitchy! dozzat tickle, bro?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus squealed as he slapped the couch cushions, tears beginning to fall down his bright orange cheeks. "NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! N-NO TEHEHEHEASING! NYEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEHEHEHE!"

~!~!~!~

"oh!" Sans eyes lit a bit brighter in honest excitement, his grin deliriously happy. "i think i just got it! pigs squeal, don't they? that must be it!" Now caught up in the moment, his elder-brotherly instincts were kicking into high gear. "heheh, 'samatter, bro? can't take a little teasing? tickle tickle tickle!" His fingers skittered down Papyrus's soles and he picked up one of the feathers, stroking it along his arches and flitting under and between his toes.

-

"N-NOHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHA! SAHAHAHANS! I SHALL HAHAHAVE MY REVEHEHENGE! AHAHAHAHAHA!" He found that all his thrashing and squirming was starting to exhaust him, for his movements began to slow; his laugh, however, was as strong as ever.

~!~!~!~

Sans froze, slowly lowering the feather and turning to face his brother. He noted the tears with a pang of guilt, not having really intended to push his brother so far. "heh, uh ... i guess i got a little carried away myself," he admitted. "but, uh, if you get revenge for my revenge for your revenge, that just seems like a dangerous road to go down, you know...? can't we call it even now?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus panted heavily — despite his lack of lungs — and hesitated a bit before answering with a tired smile. "I suppose you make a valid point there. Alright, then, the Great Papyrus shall spare you this time! And..." He looked away, a bit embarrassed. "Well... I'm happy you enjoyed yourself even at my expense. Which ... honestly wasn't as bad as I made it out to be. After all, I know you'd never hurt me, brother, so I knew I was completely safe. So you needn't worry about me!" He shot his brother a reassuring grin.

~!~!~!~

Sans's expression brightened, his large, elated smile coloring his voice with warmth. "you really are the best, papyrus." He scooted and dropped himself forward, hugging Papyrus around his chest as he called off his magic to restore his brother's SOUL to normal.

The smaller skeleton glanced up. "heh, and ... if you ever pulled something like that on me again, just keep in mind i'm not undyne, i probably don't have half the tolerance to it that she has." He chuckled weakly. "but, uh, are you doing all right after all that?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus chuckled and hugged back, sitting up. "Worry not, dear brother, for I was actually successful this time around! Well, to an extent. She really gave me quite the workout, I'll tell you that. Speaking of..." He smirked playfully as he gently poked Sans' ribs. "Perhaps Undyne could help train you as well. It would definitely make you much more active."

~!~!~!~

Sans flinched with a squeak, his eyelights flickering out and back at the thought. "ghehh! ... i d-don't think that'd be necessary, bro, it takes a lot of work to be as inactive as i am, heh." In a certain sense, it was true, Papyrus didn't know how closely he was monitoring the workings of the Underground, even with his ever-growing nihilism, he still cared for the people around him enough to keep an eye on things and intervene if necessary. "besides, the captain is a little intense. doesn't she like you to stand there and take what she throws at you with her green magic? even if it's just a tickle fight, i don't think i could take a friendly hit, heh. i feel safer training with you and dodging..."

He glanced away, then back with a sheepish smile. "here, uh, let me get you your scarf back." Pulling away, he kneeled at Papyrus's legs again, carefully untying the ends of the cloth from his brother's ankles, pulling it out from under the cushion and offering it to him.

~!~!~!~

"I suppose you have a point there. And thank you, Sans." He took the scarf back and inspected it, finding no major tears, before wrapping it back around his neck.

~!~!~!~

"still looks so cool on ya." Sans beamed, reaching up to lightly bat it with a 'dusting-off' motion. He wasn't sure what exactly compelled his next move — all the excitement had left him in a better mood than before, even it had been torturous for him, and especially having to keep his puns in check left him bursting with mischief. His fingers dove between the fabric and Papyrus's neck, wiggling teasingly. "and so does a smile!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus squeaked in alarm before falling into a fit of high-pitched, rather cute giggles, trying to protect his neck by rolling up his shoulders. "NYEHEHEHEHE! H-HEY! EHEHEHEHE!"

~!~!~!~

Sans quietly giggled right along with him, eyes arched, as he spidered his fingers to the back of Papyrus's neck. "kitchy coo! haha, maybe it was a good thing you were keeping your ticklishness on the down-low from me, this is way too much fun, hehehe~"

~!~!~!~

"NYEHEHEHAHAHAHA! YES, A-AND SOHOHO IS THIS!" Quickly reaching out to Sans' exposed torso, Papyrus tickled his ribs through his shirt.

~!~!~!~

"kkehehahaa~!" Sans's arms snapped up against himself, curled fingers raised to his mouth as he squirmed with a squeal. It wasn't nearly as stressful as with being restrained by his SOUL, but it still tickled like crazy. "aahahaa! ihihit tihickles~! gaahahaaa!" His cheeks were faintly hazed with blue.

~!~!~!~

"Maybe so, but at least you're laughing!" He decided to tickle a bit softer as to not overwhelm him.

~!~!~!~

Sans's squirming slowed to fidgeting at the gentler sensation. "kkheh~! heheh! ahaheh!" Opening his eyes to a squint, he attempted to retaliate, but the only place he could reach that wouldn't expose him further with his own brother's ribs. His fingertips clacked uselessly against Papyrus's battle body, and for some reason, he found the whole thing absurdly amusing, snorting through his giggles.

~!~!~!~

"NYEH HEH HEH! Nice try, brother, but my battle body is tickle-proof!" He suddenly slid his hands under Sans' shirt and began skittering along his spine.

~!~!~!~

Lightly jumping at the rapid touches, Sans flopped down in a slight curl, pushing against Papyrus's arms with all his limbs — socked-feet included. "ghhahah! hehehe, noho! you gohot too muhuch of ahan _armor-vantahage_, bro!" Immediately horrified, he covered his mouth, eyes wide. It barely qualified as a pun with how bad it was, but the worst ones seemed to get on Papyrus's nerves faster. His allotted time hadn't even technically started yet and he was already breaking his word. "s-sorry!" he squeaked.

~!~!~!~

"Ohoho! You must REALLY want the tickling to continue, don't you, brother?" He grabbed his ankles and placed them under an arm, readying to tickle his feet with the other hand.

~!~!~!~

"i-it just slipped out...! i-i...!" Nervously tugging on his ankles proved that Papyrus's grip was steadfast. Chuckling rather incredulously at himself, he sighed and sat up on his elbows, knowing that he was going to face the music anyway. He might as well be himself. "h-heh, i guess it's harder to _vertebrae-ke_ me than either of us thought."

~!~!~!~

Papyrus chuckled in amusement. "You know something, Sans? I was just kidding. I wanted to tease you and let that pun slide. But now? Now I'm gonna getcha!" He whipped off his socks and grabbed the soft scrub brush before scrubbing his soles with it, the soft bristles tickling twice as bad as the toothbrush.

~!~!~!~

Sans tensed up with a groan, he was getting himself into trouble way too much tonight. With his socks shed yet again, the dreaded feeling of vulnerability returned and his toes curled in helpless anticipation. When the scrub brush hit, everything he was expecting was subverted and he jerked with a whining yelp. It didn't vibrate like the toothbrush which he was eternally grateful for, but the bristles were silkier and glided effortlessly, the bigger tool nearly enough to engulf an entire foot. It was enough to drive him up the wall — or in this case, about halfway up the couch. "oh gaaahahaaa—! stopstopstahahahappit! pap! aahaaaaaaahahaaaaaaa! ihit's reheally bahahad! aaaaaha!" His eyes stayed wide open, staring at the vexing thing in his brother's hand.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus switched to scrubbing his toes. "Let's first see how well this works here! Nyehehehe!"

~!~!~!~

"nnhnn—! ggheheheeehaaaaaaa~!" Sans writhed, his back arching, and he bucked, desperately trying to wrench his feet away from the torment. The brush swallowed his toes in unbearable sensation, able to get under and over and in between all at once. "ahaahaaa, whyyyyyyheehehee...—! oh, gahaa—! pleeeeheaseplehehee...—! aahahaaa…—!" Voice strained at a high pitch, his laughter trailed into silent fits before gasping and starting again.

~!~!~!~

Quickly stopping and letting go of Sans, Papyrus looked down at him in worry. "A-Are you okay? Did I go too far? I'm sorry, brother!"

~!~!~!~

Sans curled up as he was released, bringing trembling fingers to rub his toes. He jumped anew as the lingering tingles flared up again at his own touch, and he decided to let them quell on their own, like letting a hot plate cool. "aaahaa ... oh, wow, pap..." He looked up at his brother a little dizzily, breathing tapered by short gasps. As awful as it had been in the moment though, Sans knew Papyrus sincerely cared about him and would never let him come to true harm. It drove him crazy, sure, but Sans did that to his brother in his own way with his constant pranks. If Papyrus had found a satisfying way to get back at him, well, he'd let him have it. "nah, i'm a-alright ... it's okay, i trust you, ya know?" Wearily sitting up, he leaned against Papyrus with a sigh, his grin hinted just a touch of mischief. "just, uh, maybe use those brushes _spare_ingly, huh?

~!~!~!~

Papyrus threw his arms high in the air, the brush flying through the air and crashing into the other side of the room. "OH, FOR THE LOVE OF PETE!"

~!~!~!~

Sans snickered. "heheheh! sorry, bro, i couldn't resist one more. i really will try to tone it down for the next week though. honest." All the exertion finally caught up with him and he yawned, feeling his sockets grow heavier. "dang, i'm hungry, but ... i might just wanna get to bed..."

~!~!~!~

"Sans, you don't need any more sleep, you already sleep eight hours a night anyway! Not to mention all those other naps throughout the day!" He leapt to his feet, striking a pose. "You might as well eat, and I, Master Chef Papyrus, shall be the one to prepare for you one of the more finer spaghetti dishes! And before you ask, no, you cannot go to Grillby's tonight; as a matter of fact, I forbid it! If there's anything you've had more than sleep, it's grease and ketchup! For Pete's sake, brother, how are you even still alive with all that smelly, icky mess?!"

~!~!~!~

"alright, alright," Sans relented, internally pouting. He could always sneak out to Grillby's later if he was really inclined. Glancing down, he leaned over and picked up his empty cup from earlier, holding it up. "mind refilling this while you're in the kitchen, then?"

~!~!~!~

"But of course! But if you even THINK about sneaking off while my back is turned..." He glared sternly at Sans before taking the glass and backing up slowly into the kitchen, glaring at him suspiciously all the while and doing the 'I've got my sockets on you...' gesture with his pointer and middle fingers.

~!~!~!~

"wouldn't dream of it bro." Sans took pleasure in toying with the idea. He could teleport the moment his brother was out of sight and probably be back with a greasy bag of takeout before Papyrus was done boiling the noodles. But he didn't really want to be so spiteful, especially since his brother was going out of his way to show him he cared. His lids drooped before suddenly snapping open. Sliding down from the sofa, he curled up comfortably on the floor, head resting on his jacket sleeves. If he did fall asleep, at least it wouldn't be on the couch.


	2. Hairpin Trick

Character Roles

Yoshachu Scorchachu ~ Papyrus, Undyne  
Karnelia ~ Sans

* * *

All of a sudden, after what felt like about a few minutes, a small cup of water was splashed in Sans' face in an attempt to wake him up, followed by a loud, "SANS!"

~!~!~!~

"gh—! wha—! what!?" The small skeleton jumped, sitting up rigidly, water dripping down his face. "...oh." His addled expression turned slightly guilty. "heh, is uh, dinner ready?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus glared sternly down at Sans. "It's been ready for about fifteen minutes. That's right, I've been trying to wake you up for a quarter hour now! And just because I said no sleeping on the couch that doesn't mean you had to sleep on the floor! Honestly, what are you, a smelly moldy sock? Which, by the way, you STILL need to pick up! I'm pretty sure the spaghetti is cold by now, so either stay awake while I reheat it or eat it cold! And I swear, if you fall asleep again, I'll tickle you awake next time! No more sleeping anywhere that isn't in your bed from now on, Sans!" He panted lightly from his loud, speedy lecture, and he rubbed the bridge of his nasal cavity. "Honestly, what would you do without such a cool guy looking after you, huh?..."

~!~!~!~

Sans's usual grin hovered on the cusp of a frown, his eyes downcast, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "ah, geeze ... i'm really sorry, papyrus. i guess i'm just really worn out." He couldn't quite meet his brother's eyes, shame churning in his core at the beratement. "i dunno, i think i'd be lost without you, bro..." Pushing himself up to his feet, he offered an apologetic expression. "hey, uh, i'll come with you this time, so maybe then i won't fall back asleep?"

~!~!~!~

Expression softening, Papyrus bent down on one knee to gently hug Sans. "No, I should be sorry. This time you actually have a need to nap; I mean, I nearly tickled the daylights out of you more than once in less than an hour! I suppose I should be a bit more understanding." He picked Sans up. "But if you really do want to accompany me, I won't complain. I always enjoy your company after all! I mean, who wouldn't enjoy the company of the Great Papyrus' coolest older brother?"

~!~!~!~

Sans wrapped his arms loosely around his brother's neck, resting his cheek against the soft scarf. Papyrus's gentler tone pushed his emotions past the tipping point, and his eyes moistened. He muffled a sniffle. "thanks, pap." Clinging to him like a lifeline as he was picked up, Sans eased back into a smile. "i guess i like to rile you up sometimes, bro—" he glanced at the lone sock next to the television, "but i hope you don't think that i don't appreciate that you try to push me to do my best, or that i don't listen to you. i couldn't ask for a better brother than you."

Closing his eyes, he paused, then chuckled. "heh, and yeah, you're a great tickler. maybe too great," he half-teased, though the other half was serious.

~!~!~!~-

Hugging Sans again, Papyrus gave him a gentle, affectionate squeeze. "Well, of course I'm a great tickler. Perhaps people should start calling me Tickle Master Papyrus." He chuckled at his own joke. "And yes, I do know you appreciate what I do for you. You still do your five or six jobs — somehow — so you can pay for the house every month. I don't say this enough, but I'm really proud of you, Sans. You may be lazy and a bit annoying at times, but you're mature and supportive and friendly and very responsible once you're motivated enough! With that being said, you're as cool and great as me, if not a tiiiiiny big cooler."

~!~!~!~

Sans happily nestled into the affection, lightly blushing at the praise. "nah, nobody's got ya beat in the cool department. but ... it means a lot to hear you say that." Feeling so comfortable and loved, he almost wished the moment would never end. "a whole lot, bro."

The faint scent of Papyrus's cooking still lingered in the air and Sans was reminded how hungry he was. He perked up a bit eagerly.

~!~!~!~

"Oh, yes! The spaghetti, how could I have forgotten? You're probably starving at this point! I mean, look at you, you're nothing but bones!" He smirked affectionately as he gave Sans' ribs a few light pokes before carrying him into the kitchen.

~!~!~!~

Sans tensed his grip, burying his face in Papyrus's scarf. "aha~! khheh! oho, i see how it is. you just wanted to claim the title of pun master for the week," he joked, smiling broadly.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus stopped abruptly in his tracks, a very disappointed look on his face, and he groaned and buried his face in a gloved hand. "Oh, my gosh, I didn't even mean to make that pun! You're such a bad influence, brother!" He placed him on the ground before placing the plate of spaghetti in the microwave and reheating it.

~!~!~!~

"heheh! no, you don't understand how proud i am!" Sans continued to playfully tease, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets and slowly rocking on his heels as he waited. "if you keep at it, they'll be comin' to ya naturally all the time, bro."

~!~!~!~

"Oh, PLEASE don't get that image in my head, Sans!" The microwave beeped and he pulled out the spaghetti before handing it to Sans. "Here, just take your spaghetti and eat it."

~!~!~!~

"thanks!" Pulling out a fork from the nearby silverware drawer, Sans leaned up against the counter and dug in. Honestly it wasn't that bad — better than the last time he gave into Papyrus's insistence at trying his spaghetti at least. Reheating it probably even helped a bit. In any case, it was pretty filling and he was grateful. "mm, pretty good, bro. undyne must be proud."

~!~!~!~

Papyrus began to snicker, covering his mouth with his hands, and tried not to burst out laughing; meanwhile, Sans sensed the temperature in his mouth rising quickly, and he quickly found that the sauce was replaced with chili pepper purée.

~!~!~!~

Sans noticed Papyrus laughing and blinked in confusion before it hit him. No wonder the spaghetti tasted all right — there was an ingredient that had actual flavor, and it was quickly becoming overwhelming. "hhn-hhh—!" He panted, making an uncharacteristic dash for the fridge, rummaging through the Tupperware. "ghh, p-pap, where's the milk?"

~!~!~!~

Unable to hold back any longer, Papyrus threw his head back and laughed loudly. "NYAHAHAHA! Oh, Sans! You should see the look on your face!"

Unfortunately for Sans, there was nothing in the fridge but bottles of water, and, as everyone knows, drinking water with a burning mouth makes the heat in one's mouth worse.

~!~!~!~

Starting to lightly perspire, Sans frantically continued the search until he was convinced there was nothing but water. Knowing it would be unpleasant, but would ultimately help, he grabbed a bottle, fumbling as he tried too quickly to unscrew the cap. He held it for a second with a wince, then gulped down about a fourth of it in one go. There was a momentary dampening of the spicy heat before it redoubled, and tears welled in the corners of his tightly closed sockets. Grimacing, he tipped back the bottle, finishing it off and grabbing another, draining that one as well before there was any noticeable relief.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus kept laughing, hunching over a bit and supporting himself on his knees due to laughing so hard. He finally calmed down once Sans had and he handed him a jug of milk he was hiding behind his back. "Here, brother, try this."

~!~!~!~

Sans dropped his current water bottle which clattered to the floor, grabbing the jug with slightly shaky hands, drinking straight from the container. The effect was much more immediate and soothing, and Sans slowly lowered the jug, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. He turned to put the remaining milk back in the fridge, closing the door. "so, we're not done with our revenge dance, i see," he said calmly. Turning back around to face his brother, his eye flared to life with magic. "i hope it was worth it." Clenching his fingers, he turned Papyrus's SOUL blue.

~!~!~!~

"EEEP!" Collapsing to the ground, Papyrus struggled to stand back up. "I-It was! You prank me all the time, so the Great Papyrus decided to give you a taste of your own medicine! NYEH HEH HEH!"

~!~!~!~

He closed his eyes with a lazy grin. "oh, it was a great prank, bro. by the way, that was another great pun right there." He chuckled, walking out of the kitchen, and as gently as he could, manipulated his brother's gravity to pick him up in a hover, dragging him along behind. He started up the stairs. "but now, instead of a bedtime story, i'm gonna tickle you to sleep."

~!~!~!~

"Oh, for the love of — WAIT, WHAT?!" Previously frustrated over the unintentional pun, his sockets grew wide with his trademark comical bug-eyed expression, and he struggled as much as he could. "N-NO, BROTHER! DON'T!"

~!~!~!~

Sans used his free hand to muffle a snicker, mindful not to lose his concentration, and pushed open his brother's room door. Flicking on the light, he carefully lowered Papyrus to his own bed, pinning him there while he walked over to his brother's closet. Finding a box inside, he rummaged through it and found a good amount of nylon rope, usually useful for rescues and traversing tricky terrain while on patrol. Once back at his brother's side, he clamored up onto his legs, tying them down to the bed as well as his ankles. "i don't like putting you in bone-dage, bro, but your reflexes are a little too extreme for me," he explained, climbing down and making his way to the head of the bed to attempt to do the same with Papyrus's arms and wrists.

~!~!~!~

"SANS, NO!" Now in full panic mode, Papyrus struggled and thrashed as hard as he could, yet Sans still somehow managed to tie him down. "PLEASE, THIS IS TAKING THINGS TOO FAR! DON'T DO THIS TO ME!"

~!~!~!~

Seeing his brother's panic made Sans pause, not wanting him to feel truly threatened. He climbed back on top of Papyrus, resting his hands gingerly above his SOUL, communicating his care and reassurances directly through magic. "don't worry, bro, i'll be sure to be gentle with ya." He winked.

~!~!~!~

He managed to calm down a bit, but he still looked very nervous. "W-Well... If you say so, brother... I trust you... But I still don't like this too much."

~!~!~!~

Sans continued to magically convey his harmless intentions for a few more moments before making any moves. It wasn't exactly an intimate act, but monsters opening up their feelings was personal and held a certain vulnerability. He figured if he was going to put Papyrus in such a position, the least he could do was approximate an equal standing between them. He slowly moved his hands away and smiled gently.

"all right, if it really does get to be too much, i will stop. i promise." With that, he slipped a hand under Papyrus's chest-plate, feeling out a rib and sliding a finger along the inner side. "heheh, are these as ticklish as mine?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus squeaked and immediately yanked hard on his arms, but the ropes holding them up held fast. He started to squirm his torso around, giggling uncontrollably. "NYEHEHEHEHEHE! SAHAHAHANS! EHEHEHAHAHAHA!"

~!~!~!~

His grin broadening, Sans lightly crooked his fingertips, slowly brushing them against as many ribs as he could at once. Since he could now very much empathize, he began to imagine just what might drive _him_ crazy and he gently grabbed a rib between finger and thumb as he had done to Papyrus's toes earlier, gingerly nudging and wiggling the bone before moving to another one and doing the same.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus squealed and giggled hysterically as he bounced around on the bed, the new method of tickling obviously having a very big effect on him. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA! ST-STAHAHAHAP! TOO MUHUHUHUCH! NYEHEHEHEHE!"

~!~!~!~

Sans eased off. "heh, all right." He turned around, drumming his fingers on Papyrus's knees. "what about here? seemed to make you pretty jumpy before." Experimentally, he gently scratched over the tops and prodded underneath.

~!~!~!~

His giggling softened, but his twitching and kicking were still fairly strong. "NYEHEHEHEHE! EHEHEHEHAHAHAHA! D-DON'T THINK FOR A SEHEHECOND THAT YOU'RE G-GEHEHETTING AWAY WITH THIS, BROHOHOTHER!"

~!~!~!~

"heheh ... i figured." Sans shrugged, though he found he wasn't as relaxed as he thought he might be after Papyrus confirmed he wasn't done either. He glanced back with a devious glint in his eyes. "hey, bro, don't go anywhere, huh?" He winked. With Papyrus physically bound, he decided it would be fine to let go of his SOUL — one less thing for them both to worry about.

Hopping down, he headed downstairs, grabbing one of the feathers before returning, showily twirling it in his fingers.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus gulped and tensed up, staring with fear at the torturous tool. "D-Don't you even think about it, Sans! I-I mean it, Sans!"

~!~!~!~

"oops, too late, already thought about it." Sans chuckled, sitting up by his brother's torso, petting the feather down his cheek and twirling it under his chin. "i'll give you a choice though. feet, ribs, or spine? if you don't choose, i'll tickle all three with this."

~!~!~!~

Squeaking and gritting his teeth, Papyrus tried not to give in to laughter, thrashing his head from side to side in an attempt to escape the feather's agonizingly soft touch. "H-Hnnngh! C-Can't I choose n-none?! E-Eeeee...!"

~!~!~!~

"choosing none is the same as not choosing at all, which means i get to tickle all of them." The smaller skeleton softly flitted the feather at Papyrus's neck, switching sides when his brother tried to block it. "is that what you really want?"

~!~!~!~

"N-NO! Eeeeeehehe!..." He tried to roll his shoulders up to protect his neck. "F-Fine, tickle my ribs, they're the l-least ticklish of the three!"

~!~!~!~

"oh, huh, did i not specify that you were choosing which spot of the three for me to leave alone?" He held his usual smile for as long as he could before breaking into snickers. "heheheh! nah, just kiddin', i'll be nice." Repositioning himself, he poked the feather up inside the armor, sweeping and dusting along the inner sides of the ribs that he was able to reach.

~!~!~!~

At the little joke, Papyrus' sockets widened in fear and betrayal, looking like he was about to scream something, but it quickly turned to relief when it turned into a fake out. He squealed and laughed loudly at the tickling as his torso twisted and bucked and jerked, yanking at his arm restraints the entire time. "AAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IT TIHIHIHICKLES MORE THAN I THOHOHOUGHT IT WOULD! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus's movements were starting to outmatch Sans's lethargic pace, but he didn't really want to add the stress of the blue magic back again. Instead, he simply twirled the feather in one spot, letting Papyrus's reflexes dance him into it.

~!~!~!~

"YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH, GAHAHAHASH! EHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHA!" As much as he tried, he couldn't stop squirming, which caused only more ticklish distress for the poor skeleton. At this point, tears began falling down his bright orange cheeks and he let out the occasional squeaky snort.

~!~!~!~

"okay, looks like you've had enough." Withdrawing the feather, Sans reached up, taking the loose end of his brother's scarf and patting his cheeks dry. "i'll let ya out now if we can agree on a truce, at least for tonight, huh? oh, and i wasn't serious about the bedtime story thing. i'll still read to you if you really want me to."

~!~!~!~

Papyrus panted heavily, thankful for the tickling to be all over for the night, and he nodded slowly. "O-Okay. Just for tonight. But expect a rather rude awakening tomorrow morning, brother, for the truce will end then." He shot Sans a mischievous smirk.

~!~!~!~

"ghheh! ... if you say so, bro..." Sans very purposefully neglected to remind Papyrus of the lock on his bedroom door and how he was going to very much put it to use tonight. Still, the thought of being back on the other side of the tickling coin made him nervous, and it showed. Scooching down, he stopped at his brother's feet. "just gonna untie you down here, so don't freak out and kick me, okay?" He started on the knots, working them loose.

~!~!~!~

"So long as you don't tickle me, I can guarantee you I won't. Thank you, brother."

~!~!~!~

Sans nodded, finishing up with his legs and doing the same for his arms. After picking out a book of Papyrus's choice and reading, he gave his brother an affectionate pat on the head and bid him goodnight, turning off the light and heading for his own room. He triple-checked his lock before collapsing on his mattress and getting comfortable.

~!~!~!~

~!~!~!~

~!~!~!~

Papyrus woke up early, spending a few minutes getting ready for the day before gathering materials needed to get back at Sans. He knew his brother would have locked the door, so he used a hair pin to trick the lock — a trick that Undyne taught him in case he needed to get into a locked room right away — and opened the door to find his brother still asleep. Smirking, he went to work, using the same ropes from last night to tie Sans' limbs to each corner of the bed, but not before gently removing his jacket to better reach his ribs.

~!~!~!~

Sans was used to being carried by his brother while he slept, so the handling didn't really faze him. He only briefly looked troubled with a soft mumble while Papyrus tied him up — flashes of yellow and tendrils of green and echoes of wicked laughter taunted the edges of his memory in his dreams.

~!~!~!~

Once he'd finished, he gently lifted up Sans' shirt to expose his spine, then he removed his gloves before gliding a finger gently down it. "Wakey-wakey, brother~"

~!~!~!~

Sans twitched with a shiver. "mmhm...~!" The slight pull on his taut limbs from his reflex combined with his brother's voice actually did more to rouse him. "...pap...?" Blearily opening his eyes, he blinked once before his situation caught up with him. "ghhn! wha—! how...!?" He jerked as he instinctively tried to sit up and panicked more when he couldn't. "p-pap, how'd you get in!?" He noticed his jacket had been discarded and felt an extra layer of vulnerability starting to creep over him. He met his brother's eyes nervously.

This was probably going to be a long morning.

~!~!~!~

"Let's just say I have Undyne to thank. Now, as you know, the truce ended this morning, so now I shall enjoy my revenge. But worry not, for I will be just a gentle and considerate with you as you were with me last night. Only difference is I'll be using this instead of a feather." He held up the electric toothbrush and turned it on with a mischievous, "Nyeh heh heh..."

~!~!~!~

Sans's mind reeled, still trying to figure out how Papyrus managed to get past his lock and how Undyne was involved and about how he very much couldn't move, and — _No...!_ "hnn! oh gosh, not that thing!" He winced at the dreaded sound. He tried to latch onto Papyrus's soothing reassurance, but he hadn't found the toothbrush very gentle before and doubted he'd find it so now.

~!~!~!~

"I shall give you the same choice you gave me: would you like to be tickled on your ribs or feet? And if you don't answer, I'll tickle both!"

~!~!~!~

"gnnhnn...," Sans softly whined. Both would be excruciating, but it was still no contest. He didn't want it on his ribs again, he just couldn't take it. At least he only had ten toes as opposed to the twenty-four ribs. "feet...," he croaked, curling his toes.

~!~!~!~

"Very well, ribs it is!" Papyrus lifted up Sans' shirt to expose his ribs and readied to tickle them with the toothbrush.

~!~!~!~

"aaahh! nono, please!" Sans gripped the rope he was restrained by as if he could tug himself further up, but didn't move an inch, wide eyes locked on the brush. _Please be joking! Pleeeeease!_

~!~!~!~

Papyrus let out a laugh as he pulled his shirt back down. "Kidding, kidding! But you should've seen the look on your face! I can tell why you pulled that same joke on me now! Nyehehehe!" He slid down to his legs and removed his socks.

~!~!~!~

Sans breathed out a long, slightly trembling sigh of relief. "yeah ... yeah, it's a good one ... heh." He was surprised to find himself just a little more relaxed in spite of it all. Maybe it was the happiness Papyrus was radiating; he seemed to be having quite a lot of fun.

~!~!~!~

"Let me know if you need a break and I'll stop. Perhaps we should use a safety word. Hmm... How about... Spaghetti! That shall be our super cool safety word from now on! Okay, are you ready to begin, brother?" Turning on the brush, he pulled back Sans' toes on his right foot.

~!~!~!~

"hey, that's ... actually a pretty good idea, bro." Sans chuckled genuinely at his choice for the word. "i guess i'm as ready as i'll ever be..." He was still anxious, and he tensed as Papyrus pried back his toes, but his trust in his brother finally overrode the deeper pangs of fear.

~!~!~!~

"Very well! Witness the skills of Tickle Master Papyrus! NYEHEHEHE!" He began scrubbing up and down Sans' sole with the brush, buzzing it under his toes from time to time.

~!~!~!~

Sans jolted. "oh, gaha—!" The vibration was just as horrible as he remembered, magnifying everything Papyrus did to tortuous levels. "hahahaaa! aaahahaahaa, i reheheally hahate thahat thiheheng! gnnahahahaaa!" Turning his head to the side, he tried to shake his toes free of his brother's grip, but Papyrus had too good a hold. "eehe! ahahahaaaa!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus couldn't help but giggle at Sans' attempts to squirm away as he brushed under and between his toes. "Nyehehe! Wowie, Sans, tickling you is fun!"

~!~!~!~

Writhing and wriggling as much as he could, Sans broke into squeals as his toes took the focus. "aahaaiiieehehee~! eehehehahahaa! oho, gahahash, you enjoyhehe tohorturing meheheheee! i'm doohoomed!" He couldn't keep his foot still, even though Papyrus was doing a pretty good job of holding it in place, tugging and twitching.

~!~!~!~

"No, I don't enjoy torturing you. But I do enjoy making you laugh! You can't sit there and tell me you're not having at least a little fun!" He pounced on Sans' other foot and scrubbed his sole, skittering his other hand's fingers under his toes as he pulled them back.

~!~!~!~

Jumping at the switch, Sans's whole momentum shifted, curling the toes of his right foot and tugging on the left. "ahaaahahaa! kkgheheh!" The light toe tickling on top of everything had him shuddering. But most of all, confusion bubbled inside of him. It was torture, but ... he really did enjoy laughing. And he was quite fond of their shared sibling japery. And he hadn't resorted to the safe word yet. _Was he actually somewhat having fun with this?_ "ahehe...! ahehe dunno! hahahaa!"

~!~!~!~

"So you are having fun! Wonderful! I'm so happy!" He began tickling under one set of toes with his hand and between the other set with the brush, grinning brightly with happiness all the while.

~!~!~!~

Hearing his brother so pleased also made Sans happy. At the double assault on his toes, he threw his head back, lightly arching his spine with a squeaky squeal, trying to shake off the fingers and the brush that was wedged there. "eeeeeehehee~! pleeheheheheease! ihihit reheally tihickles, aaahahahaaaaa!" His feet soon found separate rhythms, the one under the finger's duress dancing while the one enduring the brush thrashed as the entire foot resonated with the vibration's tingles.

~!~!~!~

"You seem to be handling one toothbrush fine, brother. Now let's see how you fare against two!" Whipping out another hidden toothbrush, he turned it on before using both to tickle all over Sans' left foot's toes, making sure to tickle every last spot, using his knees to pin his foot in place so he couldn't squirm his foot away.

~!~!~!~

"whahaha—!? nononohoho!" Digging his fingers into the ropes, Sans shook his head frantically. "aaaaahahahaa—! gahaa, thihis ihis juhust cruhuhuel...~!" The further restriction on his foot made it worse as the tingles from one brush collided with the other's without being able to physically express his stress for relief. Tears gathered and dripped from his sockets. "ahaaa~! noho mohore! breheheak! spahahaghehettii! plehehease! pleasepleheheeaseplease!"

~!~!~!~

"Oops!" Papyrus stopped tickling and turned off the brushes. "Did I go too far? I'm sorry, Sans, I didn't mean it!"

~!~!~!~

Sans slumped into a more relaxed position, still lightly clutching the ropes, breathing fast and heavy with closed eyes. "hh ... hff ... nah, y-you're fine, pap. it's just pretty intense, ya know? i'm not really used to that, heh." He opened his eyes, a few more tears spilling free, he gazed up at Papyrus with a gentle smile. "i just need a breather, that's all."

~!~!~!~

"Oh, thank goodness... At first I thought I was actually torturing you. Well, I shall let you breathe, then I will let you go after a fun little challenge!"

~!~!~!~

If it wasn't torture already, Sans was certain it had been bordering on the real thing. But he wasn't about to make Papyrus feel bad about it. Especially since he had known his brother would stop after their earlier agreement. "hh-heh ... ah, wait, a challenge? what kind of challenge?"

~!~!~!~

"It's just a little challenge, don't worry. And if you don't want to, I won't force you. But my idea is that you would try to keep down your laughter for about two minutes as I tickled your feet and toes — not using any tools, only my fingers — and if you succeeded I'd let you go. But if you fail, I would lightly tickle your ribs for one minute and then let you go. Well?" He grinned brightly, obviously hoping Sans would accept.

~!~!~!~

Seeing his brother's enthusiasm about the idea, Sans knew there was no way he'd decline. The punishment didn't sound too severe if he lost either. "heheh, sounds difficult, but i'll try." He lightly nodded his agreement, his breathing starting to slow and quiet.

~!~!~!~

"Thank you so much, brother!" He hugged Sans tightly and nuzzled him a bit in affection. "So, ready to begin? I'll start off slow at first, but it'll get a bit more challenging as time goes on."

~!~!~!~

Sans instinctively tried to hug him back, but was once again reminded of his immobility. Instead, he nuzzled back with arched eyes. "anything for you, bro." With a large, steadying breath, he braced himself. "okay, i understand. i think i'm ready."

~!~!~!~

"Okay! Let's begin!" Kneeling down at his feet, Papyrus began to slowly glide his fingers up and down his soles and arches.

~!~!~!~

Sans flinched at the soft touch and shivered, he concentrated on keeping quiet. Unexpectedly, a rising sense of hilarity welled up inside him and he snorted. "pffft — hahaa, wahait! gh, sohorry! i'm sorry! thinking about not laughing is making me want to laugh more! c-can we start over? i ... i think i got it out of my system now..." He smiled sheepishly.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus giggled at his brother's reaction. "N-Nyehehehe! Sure, but that's the only freebie you get. Okay, let's try this again." After giving Sans a few seconds to mentally prepare himself, he resumed the soft sole tickling.

~!~!~!~

Calming down, Sans took measured breaths. His breathing slightly hitched when Papyrus resumed, but he managed to keep it even, flexing and lightly wiggling his toes. He couldn't help smiling a little more broadly.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus chuckled before lightly skittering under his wiggling toes. "Tickle tickle tickle, brother~ Remember, no laughing~"

~!~!~!~

"ghnn—! n-not the t-teasing...!" Sans lamented, turning his head to the side, a little more stress showing in his expression. His toes curled. It was already getting hard to suppress himself, but he was determined to last as long as he could.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus pulled his toes back and wiggled his fingers between them, giggling all the while. "Hehehehe! Coochie-coochie-coo! You laugh just like a baby bones! You have such cutesie-wootsie tiny ticklish feet, Sans! Nyehehe!"

~!~!~!~

"kknnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnhh~!" Sans whined at a high pitch. "you...! d-don't ha—! hafta r-remind meeee!" He tried to swallow down the giggles that were waiting for their chance to escape, tossing his head and tugging on his ankles. Papyrus's cooing voice combined with the toe tickles made him squirm.

~!~!~!~

"And what about here, brother? Hehehe!" He began tickling the tips of his toes and the tops of his feet, making sure his ankles and sides of his feet got some attention as well.

~!~!~!~

"aaee—~!" Sans squeaked. His feet twitched rather violently at the exploration and his breaths came out in shaking shudders. "hhhh-hn! hh—! h-hhn-hhh—! ghh!" He knew he wouldn't be able to last any longer and gulped down air to hold his breath.

~!~!~!~

"What's wrong, Sans? Too ticklish? Well, worry not, you just have one minute remaining! Kitchy-kitchy-kitchy!" He gently gripped his toes between his index fingers and thumbs, wiggling and squeezing them ticklishly.

~!~!~!~

Another whole minute? Sans couldn't do it, the unspent giggles were already making him feel like he would explode. He finally burst. "gahahaaaaa~! eehe, you wihihin! yehes, i'm too tihicklish! aaaahaaaha! kkheheh!" He knew this meant more tickling, but he was still a bit relieved, even though the toe tickling had amped up again, at least he could vent about it. Perhaps if Papyrus wanted to challenge him again in the future he would work on finding a different technique to hold in his laughter.

~!~!~!~

"Yes! The Great Papyrus wins again! Which means it's time for the penalty!" Ecstasy practically radiating off of him in waves, he leapt to Sans' torso and rolled up his shirt. "To be honest, I love tickling your ribs the most, but I know how sensitive they are so I try to refrain myself from doing so. But now that I can, I'm going to have lots of fun!"

~!~!~!~

Sans lightly panted and shifted nervously underneath him, the cool air on his ribs making him a little anxious. "well, i do appreciate your self-control, bro, heh." He glanced away for a moment. "but i guess it makes me happier knowing it's something you enjoy." Looking up, he admitted, "i'm just glad you didn't make it be the brushes." His eyes suddenly widened. "i-it's not the brushes, right?"

~!~!~!~

"Of course not, brother, I wouldn't want to overwhelm you. I'll just be using my fingers. But I will pull that little sneaky trick you pulled on me last night. How did it go again? Was it something like this?" He gently gripped a lower rib in his fingers and gently squeezed and wiggled it the same way Sans had done to him.

~!~!~!~

Sans barely had time to feel relief before he squeaked out a shrill gasp. "ggheeheeh~! oh noho! noho plehease~! eheeheeheeee, stahahaaap! stahap!" It was devastatingly worse than he had imagined, feeling just about as torturous as the brush's vibrating anyway. How did such a gentle grip tickle so much!? "whyhehe do i keeheheep gihiving you ideheas you cahahaan use agahahainst meheheeheee!?"

~!~!~!~

"That's what I want to know! Hahahaha!" Papyrus grinned, his sockets glinting with mischief as he inhaled and blew a large raspberry right in the middle of his ribs.

~!~!~!~

Sans thrashed with a surprised squeal, magic briefly flaring as he lost coherent thought for a second. "aaaaaaheeehehehe—~! oh gahahash, whahat ahare you dohoing to mehehe!? whahat ihis thaahahaaat!?" Even his magic seemed to be tingling now and it was unbearable. "ahaaaaa ... d-don't do ihit agaiiiin!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus hunched over in laughter. "NYEHEHEHEHE! S-Sorry, Sans, I couldn't resist! Okay, okay, I'll be much gentler from now on." He resumed his gentle tickles, gliding his fingers up and down the sides of his ribs and wiggling them in between each rib.

~!~!~!~

Sans gave him a wheezy sound of acknowledgement which turned into another squeak as he felt the fingers back on him. "gheheheee—! aahaha~! kkh~hahahaaahaa! y-you're too goohood ahahat this! ahahaaa—!" Writhing, he squinted to look up at Papyrus, taking comfort in the fact that his brother was having fun and not just being cruel.

~!~!~!~

"Well, of course I am, I'm naturally good at everything!"

All of a sudden, the bedroom door slammed open, taking both brothers by dead surprise, and they looked to see Undyne standing there.

"HEY, PAPYRUS! Why the heck haven't you been answering your phone?! I've been calling for about half an hour because you're late for training and—" She cut herself off when she noticed what was going on. "Uhhhhh…."

"H-HOW DID YOU GET INTO OUR HOUSE?!" Papyrus nearly fell off the bed in utter shock.

~!~!~!~

Sans couldn't strip his gaze away from the captain, his bones feeling like lead. Embarrassment filled him and his cheeks flushed blue. This probably looked incredibly indecent. Even if they told her the truth about what they were doing, it would probably sound like a lie to cover up something unthinkable. He desperately wished he could hide his face.

~!~!~!~

Undyne's facial expression suddenly turned to one of anger. "Papyrus..."

"I-It's not what it looks like, I swear!" His cheeks flushed a bright orange.

"Oh, it isn't, is it? Exposed ribcage, bare feet, toothbrushes on the bed, fingers dangerously close to the ribs... I SO want in on that!" She grinned widely, her good eye glistening with mischief, as she leaped forward and dug her fish claws into Sans' ribs, tickling him fiercely.

~!~!~!~

Sans didn't know what shocked him more — the fact that she read the situation so accurately, or the physical shock of her fingers scratching and scrabbling over his ribs. "gghah—! ahahahahahaaa! oh, gahaha—! hehelp! pahahapyrus, hehehelp meheheeeee!" No wonder Papyrus was so good, if he'd learned from her. He tugged on his arms helplessly, pounding his head lightly against the bed. The mortification hadn't completely drained away, but he was glad she hadn't jumped to darker conclusions.

~!~!~!~

"Undyne, stop, you're torturing him!"

"Well, duh! That's what you were doing!"

"No, I wasn't! I was playing with him! You're torturing him, he doesn't like it!"

"Ohhh. ...Eh, too bad for him!" Undyne only increased her tickling speed. "FUHUHUHU!"

~!~!~!~

Twisting left and right, Sans's laughter was punctuated with gasps. Anxiety resurfaced and blazed through him. Undyne wouldn't stop, and well, if she was going to play rough, then so was he. Clenching his hand into a tight fist his magic sparked, turning her SOUL blue. He couldn't thrust his hand away from himself, but he gave his wrist a dramatic jerk, hoping it would be enough to at least unseat her.

~!~!~!~

"WHOA!" The jerk was enough to fling her off balance and cause her to fall off the bed. "OUCH!"

"That's ... kinda what you get for not heeding my warning..." Papyrus grinned sympathetically before turning to his brother. "Sans, are you okay? I'm sorry, I tried to help..."

~!~!~!~

"hh ... hff ... hnn ... i'm ... i'm, uh..." Sans looked between the two of them dizzily, giving his head a slight shake. Then he froze. "oh, gosh, i'm sorry, captain!" Looking up at Papyrus, he answered, "i'm okay, really, thanks, pap." Sinking his head back down, he gave a long sigh of both exhaustion and exasperation, trembling with a hint of nerves.

~!~!~!~

Undyne stood back up, rubbing the back of her head. "Ow... You've got some nerve doing that to me, you!"

"Well, to be fair, it was an act of self-defense as you were pretty much torturing him."

"Huh. Yeah, I guess you're right! My bad! Fuhuhu!"

~!~!~!~

"so, uh ... since you're here, captain, do you want to stay for breakfast?" Sans asked, not bothering to keep his sockets open. "i don't think papyrus has had any yet, and he shouldn't train on an empty stomach. y'know, if skeletons had st—!" He stopped himself, remembering that today was technically the start of his pun free week. "ghh, i mean, i just think he should eat."

~!~!~!~

"Hey, great idea, Sans! I can see how far he's come along in his cooking! Maybe even I can help! I'll go get things started!" Undyne rushed back downstairs.

" ...Well, that just happened."

~!~!~!~

"oh gosssh...," Sans quietly moaned when Undyne was out of the room. "is that what she puts you through all the time? geeze!" Finally calmed down enough to breathe normally, he went on, "wow, i barely woke up, and i just want to get back to bed, heh."

~!~!~!~

"Yes, I do go through that quite a lot, more often than I'd like... But she's my boss, so I can't really say no to her. And I understand, being tickled does take a lot out of you, even me!" He began to untie him. "Oh. And, uh... Don't worry about the whole no puns for a week thing, okay? If anything, just don't make so many."

~!~!~!~

Sitting up and gently rubbing his wrists and ankles as they were released, Sans gazed up at Papyrus with a growing, happy smile, sockets sparkling. "really bro? that means a _pun_ to me!" He quickly became overcome by delirious chuckles.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus let out a long sigh before looking down at Sans with a tired yet affectionate smile. "I'm not sure yet if I will regret this or not, but so long as you're happy I suppose I am, too."

~!~!~!~

Sans shuffled up to him, wrapping his arms around his brother's middle and leaning in to hug him. "thanks for ... y'know, not going overboard on me. i ... i guess i was sorta having a good time. but anything with you is great." Withdrawing, he dangled his legs off the edge of his bed, looking down and sliding his feet back into his slippers. "we shouldn't keep captain undyne waiting."

~!~!~!~

"You're right! If we keep her waiting she'll burn our house down, too! She already did the same to her house last month!" He scooped up Sans in his arms, but not before grabbing his hoodie off the floor, and trotted downstairs. "And I'm really glad you had fun, Sans. Perhaps we should have tickle fights more often!"

~!~!~!~

Clinging to him, Sans quietly chuckled. "sure thing, bro. after all, it's your turn next, huh?" He grinned a bit mischievously. "hey, maybe we can try to train the captain not to be so rough on you?"

~!~!~!~

He grinned and chuckled a bit nervously, both at the playful threat and rather dangerous idea. "While that is a very good and likable idea, I don't know if we'd be able to pull it off, or at least get away with it. You know how strong she is, and once she gets the chance to retaliate..." He shuddered a bit. "I can only imagine how merciless she'd be..."

~!~!~!~

"heheh, yeah, you're probably right. plus, she'd probably kill me if i ended up throwing her again," he said a bit nervously.

~!~!~!~

"Kill you, no. Wish she'd kill you once she's done with you, perhaps." He chuckled nervously.

~!~!~!~

"ghh ... geeze!" Sans buried his face in Papyrus's scarf. He was probably very lucky to get away with what he did, he didn't want to think about it too much. Still, he felt extra sympathetic for Papyrus and hoped that his brother might get a break today.

~!~!~!~

"Anyway, we should get going. If we keep her waiting too long she might punish us, or at least me. You can go back upstairs and sleep if you'd like." He placed Sans back down and rushed to the kitchen.

~!~!~!~

Sans nodded gratefully. He really did feel quite worn out and if Papyrus was going to actually let him sleep in, he should probably take advantage of it. Suddenly he realized he was still missing his hoodie, Papyrus must have taken it with him in his haste. It wasn't like he needed it to sleep, but it would still be a great comfort after everything. Gently clutching his arms around himself, he followed after his brother to the kitchen.

~!~!~!~

Just as Sans was about to walk in, a clatter of pots and pans erupted, and after rushing in he saw Undyne pinning Papyrus down, grinning that big toothy grin as she twisted an arm behind his back.

"NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN, SOLDIER! FUHUHUHU!"

"OWOWOW! UNDYNE, I THOUGHT WE WERE COOKING, NOT TUSSLING!" he shouted as he slapped his free hand against the ground, trying to tap out.

~!~!~!~

Sans hung onto the doorway, watching in a bit of distress. It was probably a normal occurrence between them, and obviously training to be in the Royal Guard would involve a sense of severity, but he still didn't like to see or hear his brother in pain. Casually strolling up to them as close as he dared, he ventured, "i know you guys are _wrestling_ up an appetite, but i'm, uh, starving. papyrus kinda gave me a big workout, after all." Honestly, he was more tired than hungry at the moment, but he'd push through it if he could give his brother some relief.

~!~!~!~

"Pfft, yeah, that's exactly what we're doing! Don't worry, Sans, we're just playing around as the water boiled! Right, buddy?" She let Papyrus up.

Papyrus fell limp, groaning a bit. "Whatever you say, Cap... Thanks for saving me, Sans..."

~!~!~!~

"oh good," Sans answered, with a quieter, "no prob, bro." Leaning back against the wall he looked between the two, suddenly struck with a thought. "so, papyrus, were you ever gonna tell me how you got in my room? my lock's not broken, right? and how _did_ you get into the house, captain? uh, not that you're not welcome of course."

~!~!~!~

Coincidentally, they both responded with the same answer at the same time. "I used a hair pin to trick the lock!" They looked at each other in shock.

~!~!~!~

Noticing that his glass from last night hadn't yet been put away in all the excitement, Sans walked over and grabbed it, starting to fill it up from the sink. "oh great, i guess i'll have to invest in smarter locks that aren't so easily fooled," he joked, turning off the faucet and taking a sip. The water was wonderfully cool and perked him up a little. Setting the cup back on the counter, he faced Papyrus with a smile. "i guess i'll take my jacket now, heh. thanks for holding onto it for me, pap."

~!~!~!~

Papyrus folded his arms and glared at Sans in annoyance. "After that little remark? I don't think so."

"Oh, shoot! He's serious now!"

~!~!~!~

Sans stiffened in slight shock, smile slightly falling before he recovered it back, hoping he looked apologetic. "oh, c'mon, pap. you said it's okay to joke around a little, right?" His arms found their way subconsciously around his ribs, and he chuckled nervously. "it's really hard to resist when you set me up for some good puns."

~!~!~!~

Noticing Sans' arm movement, a sly grin stretched across Papyrus' face. "You know, Sans... I was thinking about just letting you off with just a little lecture, but you just gave me a much better idea."

Undyne caught on almost immediately and grinned excitedly. "Aw, man, this is gonna be good!"

~!~!~!~

Staggering back, Sans stammered, "y-ya know, i'm not a-actually that hungry. i'm just gonna get back to bed." Quickly turning, he started for the doorway.

~!~!~!~

Suddenly, his SOUL turned green and he was stuck in place.

"Where do you think you're going, punk? There's no way I'm gonna miss out on this!"

"Wowie, thanks, Undyne!" Papyrus smirked as he began to advance on Sans.

~!~!~!~

"ghk—!" Sans grabbed the fabric of his shirt above his SOUL, much less used to Undyne's magic than his brother's. Instead of being held in place by gravity, the green magic was extremely compulsive, forcing him to stand his ground. He could move in place, but only just enough to face or turn from exactly what was in front of him, almost like a test of courage.

Undyne's will was strong — he could feel it radiating through his magic, and he knew he wouldn't be able to even teleport if he tried while she kept him restricted. He turned to face Papyrus again, hands up to his chest, palms open in surrender. "wa-wait, bro, you already got me back pretty good this morning, d-doncha think?"

~!~!~!~

"PREPARE FOR THE UNEXPECTED! NYEH HEH HEH!" Launching himself at Sans, Papyrus grabbed him tightly ... then slipped his jacket onto him. "There you go, brother! Told you it would be unexpected! Nyehehehe!"

"Really? I used my powers on him just so you could put on his jacket for him?" Undyne pulled a very disappointed deadpan expression.

~!~!~!~

"aaahh!" Sans shrank in on himself, eyes closed and braced for impact. When he felt his jacket around him, he peeked at himself and then at the two monsters in front of him, still quivering. "ghuhhh ... geeze..." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he gave Papyrus a meaningful look. "y'know, these pranks are gonna catch up with ya when we get to your turn again..."

~!~!~!~

"Now you know exactly how I feel about your puns, brother. Okay, Undyne, you can let him go now."

"Aw, man! I was totally expecting some kind of epic brother fight or somethin'!" Grumbling, she subsided her spell on Sans' SOUL.

~!~!~!~

Feeling his SOUL return to normal, his expression slid back into an easy-going grin and Sans sighed. "heh, yeah, you sure had me _rattled_ there, bro." He winked with a cheeky smirk, stepped out from the kitchen and around the corner, and teleported straight to his bed.

~!~!~!~

"SANS! Ugh…."

"Hey, don't let him get to you. Let's just finish that breakfast so we can train already!"

"Alrighty, then!"

~!~!~!~

Sans chuckled into his hand, hearing the yell from downstairs. Figuring Papyrus wouldn't let Undyne out of sight and possibly burn the house down, he stashed the ropes and brushes away for later use and curled up for a nap. He nestled happily into his hoodie.


	3. Day Off

Character Roles

Yoshachu Scorchachu ~ Papyrus, Undyne  
Karnelia ~ Sans, Flowey

* * *

"Get ready, here comes the next wave!" Undyne had decided on brushing up on Papyrus' blocking skills, turning his SOUL green to keep him in place as she flung spear after spear at him.

Gripping his bone club tightly, Papyrus began swinging and twirling it to block each attack, shouting with each swing to add to his power; it was quite an impressive sight.

~!~!~!~

Refreshed after having rested up — and actually resting again at his morning sentry shift instead of only appearing that he was — Sans teleported to Waterfall. His next job was there, but he wanted to drop by to see his brother anyway. He had an idea — one that could possibly backfire and make Papyrus hate him forever, but he hoped that it would help him in the long run.

Hearing the faint sound of a Spooktune echoing in the cavern from one of the local ghost houses, he knew he'd landed close, and took the path up to Undyne's home.

As he approached, he slowed, watching his brother blocking everything that came at him with expert precision. His brother was so cool! Walking up to Undyne, he nodded at her respectfully, waiting for their round to finish. Undyne wasn't directly his boss like she was to Papyrus, but as a sentry, he was still subject to her command while on duty.

~!~!~!~

Undyne nodded back to Sans before calling out to Papyrus, "Okay, punk! Block this and we'll take ten!" Summoning many spears around Papyrus, she fired.

Panting heavily and looking about ready to collapse at this point, Papyrus still managed to use one last burst of energy to uproot magical bones from the ground, forming a circle around him and blocking the spears. They dissolved and he collapsed to the ground panted heavily as Undyne subsided her spell on his SOUL.

"Great job, Papyrus! You deserve a break! Go inside and get some water!" As Papyrus climbed to his feet and stumbled towards her house, Undyne turned to Sans. "What's up, Sans? Wait, don't tell me, you were napping at your sentry post again and are ready to do the same thing at your Waterfall post."

~!~!~!~

"dang, ya caught me," Sans responded casually, winking up at Undyne with a grin. "actually, i wanted to try something with you involving papyrus. i know you were disappointed earlier that you didn't get to see an, uh, epic bro fight, but maybe this'll make up for it." As they'd briefly discussed, even if both he and Papyrus teamed up against the Captain, it was sure not to end well for either of them. But maybe, if he subtly taught Undyne how to tickle his brother in a more tolerable manner, it might save him a little grief.

~!~!~!~

"Hmm ... I'm listening."

Papyrus began to chug down the water he got for himself, so fast in fact that some of it spilled out through his ribcage, causing it to trickle through his battle body and getting his shorts wet. Yelping in alarm, he tried using his scarf to clean the mess, but with little success.

~!~!~!~

"well, pap told me that sometimes you guys have tickle fights as a part of training. it's, uh, kinda part of the reason you found us how you did this morning." Sans briefly glanced away, cheeks lightly coloring at the recollection. "but, uh, anyway, i was thinking i might show you a few techniques on him. if you're interested, that is."

He looked toward the house, hoping that his plan wouldn't make things worse.

~!~!~!~

"Hell yeah, I'm interested! And... Well, it's not always to train him. Er... You can keep secrets, right?"

Papyrus grunted in frustration as his scarf wasn't doing anything to fix the problem, and he grabbed a hand towel to use to clean himself up. It was wrapped around the handle of a pot full of water, however, and as he yanked on the towel the pot crashed to the ground, spilling water everywhere. "OH, NO!"

~!~!~!~

Well this was unexpected. Sans leaned in a little closer, now intensely curious what she had meant. And Sans was practically made of secrets, so there was no hesitation when he answered, "of course i can, captain. in fact, i can take secrets to the _grave_, heh."

~!~!~!~

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that... Anyway, I don't want you to tell anyone else this, but... Well, let's just say Alphys has made me go a bit ... soft. I like training with Papyrus, yes, but other times I do it just to play with him and spend time with him. He's ... well ... he's kinda like a little brother to me, too, and I like to think I'm like his big sister." She blushed a bit as she grinned sheepishly.

~!~!~!~

Sans could feel his smile growing at every word, bringing up curled fingers to his mouth, eyes slightly shimmering. _That is so adorable!_ He knew how much Papyrus cherished spending time with Undyne and that they were pretty close, but hearing the Captain admit just how much she cared about his brother elated him. "well then, we should get to it! i have so many older sibling techniques to share with you!" Straightening up a bit, he cleared his throat. "and don't worry. i'll keep your secret."

~!~!~!~

"Thanks, Sans, I appreciate it. Now let's get started!"

Papyrus rushed around the house to grab as many towels as he could to clean up the giant spill. "Ohhh, if Undyne sees this she's going to FREAK!"

~!~!~!~

Sans nodded eagerly, heading for the house. Opening the door, his eyes locked onto Papyrus hovering over the watery mess, his anxiety obvious. "pap...? what happened? you okay?" he asked in concern, making space to allow room for Undyne to follow him inside.

~!~!~!~

He yelped quickly before summoning a large wall of bones to hide the large mess. "HELLO THERE, UNDYNE AND SANS! WHAT A SURPRISE SEEING YOU TWO HERE!"

"Uhhh... What's with the wall of bones and the loud, anxious voice?"

"WHAT WALL OF BONES? I SEE NO WALL OF BONES! AND I'M NOT ANXIOUS! NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST! NOPE, NOT ME! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE ME ANXIOUS AT A TIME LIKE THIS BESIDES SPILLING A LARGE POT OF WATER ON THE FLOOR WHICH I MOST CERTAINLY DID NOT DO? NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!..." Papyrus laughed loudly, beads of nervous sweat rolling down his forehead.

~!~!~!~

Sans's worry melted and he stifled a chuckle into his hand. He doubted Undyne would care about a little spilled water, especially considering her floor was linoleum. He was about to give a gentle reassurance, when he glanced at the large fish warrior, his grin growing a bit devious. "oh, well, that's good, 'cause i hear the penalty for that kinda thing is a little extreme."

~!~!~!~

Undyne grinned evilly as she crossed her arms in satisfaction. "Yeah, that's right. Anyone who spills my water gets themselves tickled, and anyone who lies about not spilling it gets tickled for twice as long."

Papyrus gulped before laughing nervously. "Nyeh heh heh... I-Is that so?... Well ... I NEED TO USE THE BATHROOM!" He made a break for the window.

~!~!~!~

Sans shot out his hand, grabbing Papyrus's SOUL with his magic, casually dragging his brother a bit closer to himself. "what's the hurry, bro?" Walking around the bone obstruction, he indicated the spill. "ya know, running from the scene of the crime gets ya tickled _thrice_ as long..." Languidly swishing his hand, he very gently pushed Papyrus into Undyne's arms. "i'm afraid we've got a criminal on our hands, captain."

~!~!~!~

"So we do..." She grinned widely as she grabbed Papyrus' arms and holds them up.

"W-WAIT! I CAN EXPLAIN! YOU SEE, I WAS DRINKING WATER BUT I DRANK IT TOO FAST AND SOME WATER LEAKED THROUGH MY RIBS AND I MADE A BIT OF A MESS SO I TRIED TO USE MY SCARF TO CLEAN MYSELF UP BUT IT WASN'T WORKING SO I GRABBED A HAND TOWEL INSTEAD BUT THAT'S WHEN THE POT OF WATER SPILLED AND I WAS TRYING TO CLEAN IT UP BUT THEN YOU TWO CAME IN AND I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO GET ANGRY AT ME AND _PLEASE DON'T TICKLE MEEEEE!_"

~!~!~!~

Sans was starting to feel a bit guilty for actively encouraging Papyrus into his wound-up state. Part of him ached to tell him everything was going to be okay — to feed his true feelings into his magic and attempt to soothe him with it as he had done the night before. But he wouldn't do that with Undyne there, and he was actually uncertain if he could promise that everything would be okay.

"drinking too fast, bro? a classic skeleton mistake." He knew from experience how unpleasant that could be. Stepping up to his brother, he showily readied a hand, grinning up at Papyrus for a measured moment before slipping it under his chest-plate and giving a purposeful, swift swipe to one of his brother's inner ribs. Pulling his hand out, he inspected his finger, seeing that the bony, white digit glistened with moisture. "looks like that might've been the case. buuuuut, i'm afraid you're still gonna hafta be punished." He clawed and wiggled his fingers in a playfully threatening manner.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus gulped nervously. "P-Please be gentle at least..."

"Yeah, as if your brother would ever try to hurt you."

~!~!~!~

Expression softening, Sans felt his SOUL pang at his brother's entreaty. If only Papyrus knew that was exactly why he was going to subject him to this.

"oh, you want me to be gentle, huh?" He delicately placed his fingertips on either side of Papyrus's spine, gingerly pressing and poking and prodding in the most teasing way he could manage. "i can do gentle. are you sure that's what you want?"

~!~!~!~

He squeaked and squirmed around, giggling uncontrollably. "S-SAHAHAHANS, NOT THE SPINE! EHEHEHEHEHE!" He struggled to pull down his arms.

"Oh, no, ya don't!" Undyne kept his arms above his head with a laugh.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus's laughter had an instant effect on Sans, lifting his mood considerably. "heh, sorry bro, it's the easiest place for me to reach. that won't get me kicked, anyway. probably." He grinned, lightly spidering the fingers of one hand up along the left side of his spine and daintily stroking down the right side with his other hand, then switching up the tactics for both sides. Glancing up at Undyne, he winked. "take notes."

~!~!~!~

"NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! EHEHEHEHEHE! IT-IT'S SO TIHIHIHICKLISH!" He began kicking out his legs, trying his best to avoid kicking Sans as he squirmed and snaked his backbone around.

Grinning, Undyne held his arms up with one hand as she used the other to text notes into her cell phone.

~!~!~!~

Sans was almost too amused that Undyne was taking actual notes to continue, but he managed to channel it into a devious chuckle. "oh, what's the matter, huh? is it not gentle enough for ya, little bro?" Lightening his touch even more, he slowly, agonizingly ghosted his fingers over and between vertebrae, brushing his thumbs along the grooves of his spine. "kitchy kitchy! dozzit tickle, huh? tickle tickle tickle!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus fell into a fit of light, airy giggles and squeals, occasionally falling into silent laughter every so often. "P-Plehehehease!... Eheheheheeee!... N-No teheheasing at leheheast!..."

~!~!~!~

Sans felt so torn. He wanted to keep hearing Papyrus's adorable giggling, but he didn't want his brother to suffer. He figured he'd put on enough of a show for Undyne to demonstrate the gentler tickling method was pretty effective against his brother, but he was really enjoying this. Realizing he ultimately cared more about Papyrus's feelings, he decided he'd leave it up to him. "only if you honestly answer a question for me, bro. are you having any fun?"

~!~!~!~

Panting heavily, Papyrus fell limp. "W-Well... Um... A little?... I mean, I know I'd be safe around you, Sans, but..." He glanced nervously at Undyne, only to find her texting down notes. "What are you doing?"

"Taking down notes. Sans is teaching me how to properly tickle you." Undyne absently answered. Realizing what she said, she stiffened. "...Oops."

"SANS, YOU'RE DOING WHAT?!"

~!~!~!~

Sans lightly jolted, "er, uh..." Eyes briefly darting , he fiddled with his own fingers. "well, yeah." He looked up with a sheepish grin.

This whole thing would probably come back to bite him, Sans realized. But ... if Papyrus was even having a sliver of fun, he was going to capitalize on it. "after all, who knows better how to drive you crazy than me, huh?" He placed a fingertip on the right side of his brother's spine, softly and mercilessly twisting and drilling it against him.

~!~!~!~

He yelped and giggled as he tried to twist away, trying to sound serious but failing miserably through his high-pitched, goofy laughter. "S-SAHAHAHANS! NYEHEHEHAHAHAHA! I-I'M GONNA-HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

~!~!~!~

Sans quietly giggled, following his brother's movements as best he could. "whassat, pap? i can't hear you over all that laughing~!" Withdrawing the solitary finger, he rebounded with all ten, scuttling up and down, rapidly and lightly.

~!~!~!~

"WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAHAP! AHAHAHAHAHA! T-TOO MUHUHUHUCH!" He broke out into massive struggles, trying desperately to lower his arms, but Undyne was too strong.

~!~!~!~

Sans halted immediately, pulling his hands back. "all right, okay, that's probably enough for now." Hoping he hadn't pushed too much, he gazed up at Papyrus searchingly. "did i go too far bro? you okay?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus huffed loudly and blinks tear buds out of his eyes. "Y-Yes... I believe so..."

"Fuhuhu! That was hilarious! Man, I'm learning so much! ...Oh, crap, I did it again. My bad!" She grinned apologetically.

Papyrus glared intensely at Sans and growled softly, obviously not happy with him.

~!~!~!~

Sans quailed under his brother's glare, and he broke eye contact, looking down. "i-i'm sorry, papyrus, maybe i was having a little too much fun with this..." Fully relaxing his hand, he dispelled his magic, nervously waiting for whatever consequences might follow.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus stayed silent for a few moments, then he shot Sans a devious smirk before looking up at Undyne. "Hey, Undyne. Sans taught you the best ways to tickle me. Why don't I teach you the best ways to tickle him?"

"DUDE, YEAH!" She instantly let go of Papyrus before trapping Sans in place with her green magic, preventing him from escape.

~!~!~!~

Sans barely flinched this time as the green magic overtook him. He knew he deserved this. Perhaps if Papyrus got his payback, he wouldn't be as upset with him. But that didn't stop him from trembling in place with wide, pleading eyes. "...b-be gentle...?"

~!~!~!~

"Hey, Undyne. You know how Sans' ribs are his ultimate sweet spot?" Papyrus chuckled, dodging his older brother's feeble request.

"Now I do. What about it?"

"Well, what if I showed you the sweetest spot on his ribs that drives him insane?" He grinned evilly at Sans.

"Dude, that's so cruel! SHOW ME!"

~!~!~!~

Sans drew his arms up around his ribs so fast, he'd barely realized he'd done it. Pressing his hoodie against himself as if it could actually shield him, he shook his head frantically. "oh gosh, pap, no! n-no, don't do this!" He involuntarily squeaked in his growing panic. "anywhere but my ribs!"

~!~!~!~

"You tickled my spine, so I get to tickle your ribs. Undyne, can you hold his arms up?"

"Sure thing!" She helds Sans' arms above his head, exposing his torso.

~!~!~!~

Fair was fair, but that didn't mean Sans was happy about it. There was no use in fighting off Undyne's hands, so he saved his energy. "hey, at least i keep my weak spots covered. maybe i should get a battle body of my own." He watched Papyrus tensely, feeling extra vulnerable knowing that the monster that held him would be drinking in every bit of this.

~!~!~!~

"There aren't cool clothes large enough to cover my spine, Sans, and you know it. Now, Undyne, here's his sweetest spot: it's on the back of his ribs in these little dips between the ribs and spine. If you tickle soft enough, it REALLY drives him crazy! It works best if you have a soft tickle tool like a feather or a toothbrush. Too bad I don't have any on me."

"I got an electric toothbrush in my bathroom! You can use that!"

"Good idea! Be right back!" He rushed into her bathroom.

~!~!~!~

Sans squirmed as Papyrus described the spot, cheeks lit in a vibrant blue hue. Just the idea gave him shivers, and, worse still, it was actually going to happen, and he literally couldn't do a thing about it. "aaha, noho...!"

At Undyne's words his eyes snapped open and he became very still. "ghh—! no! nononononono! papyrus, pleeeeease!" he cried out, watching his brother disappear into the other room.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus returned a few moments later with Undyne's toothbrush. "Got it!"

"Alright! Now show me the best way to tickle this punk!"

He knelt down behind Sans and lifted up his jacket and shirt to reveal the back of his ribs, gliding an index finger down each dip between the ribs and spine as he spoke. "These are the sweet spots here."

~!~!~!~

Sans outright whimpered as his back was exposed, then he jerked with a sharp, shrill whine at the light touch. Already reflexively trying to bend away, he begged, "p-papyrus ... i-if you h-have to use the brush ... just ... don't turn it on, o-okay? please?" It was going to be torture enough already, he wasn't sure if he could survive the effect of the vibrations.

~!~!~!~

"Not unless I do this: Papyrus, as your captain I command you to, for a very short period of time, use the toothbrush on Sans' sweet spot turned on. After that, don't use it at all, just use your fingers."

Papyrus shrugged as he turned on the toothbrush. "Sorry, brother, but I can't really ignore her if she gives a command. It won't be for long, though, I promise." He almost instantly felt guilty and sorry for his poor brother as he scrubbed the vibrating toothbrush lightly along his sweet spot.

~!~!~!~

Sans whined in distress, a look of suffering etched on his face before it had even really begun. And when it did, he shrieked. He didn't even know he could make a sound like that, but there it was, and it was mortifying.

"eeeeeeeeeheheeeeee, gaha—! ple-pleeeehehehee—! pleehehease, staaaaaaaaa—! st-stahahahaahap, ahahahahhaaaaaaa! ahehe cahahan't—! i caaaaaaaaahahahaaan't—! hahaahaaaaaa, noho, pleheheheeease! aaaaaaaaaaaaha—!"

Every second of it was intolerable ticklish agony that had him thrashing as much as he could, the vibrating sensation burrowing even farther into the sweet spots that even the bristles couldn't reach and spreading out to a gentle, but maddening tingle all the way at the front of his ribcage.

~!~!~!~

"Oh, wowie, Sans! I didn't know you could squeal like that!" Mesmerized by Sans' adorable and hilarious laughter, he didn't think to stop, and instead just scrubbed faster.

"Fuhuhu! That's hilarious!"

~!~!~!~

The faster pace shook him up a little more, though if the brush hadn't been on, a slower, methodical speed would likely devastate him more. As it was, his entire spine felt like it was being shocked — just ticklishly.

"aaaaaahahahaaa...—! naahahahaa...~! pl...! hahahahaaa~aaaaahahaa!" He absolutely couldn't take anymore, and it seemed he couldn't muster enough energy to form words any longer, either, only able to laugh. He desperately tried to use their safeword. "spaha-spaaaahaaahaa—! gheheheh...! aahaaaaaa...—!" It wouldn't come out, and that just made his panic all the greater.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus recognized Sans trying to use the safe word, and he gasped loudly as he stopped. "OH, NO! I must've gotten carried away! Sans, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?!"

~!~!~!~

Sans lurched and then slumped as it suddenly stopped, or at least the buzzing thing at his back did. His bones were still flaring with sensation and he was left a shivering mess. He really did want to tell his brother that he was fine, that a little tickling wasn't enough to break him, especially in front of their captain. Tears streamed freely down his cheeks and he panted hungrily for air. "...i w-will be...," he sniveled, dizzily hanging his head.

~!~!~!~

"Aw, man, that was awesome! I wanna try!" Holding both of Sans' arms up with one hand, she used the other's fingers to softly skitter in the dips of his ribs.

~!~!~!~

The slight shift of position had Sans hanging in what felt to be an even more vulnerable state. To be completely overpowered by one hand — even the green spell on his SOUL seemed an unnecessary restriction at this point, though it severely added to his stress. He felt his magic own magic blazing so intensely, he figured if Undyne didn't have such a steely grip on his wrists, everyone within a short radius would be on the floor or against a wall.

He gave an anguished squeak of shock as Undyne continued the onslaught. She really did seem to have learned something, as her touch was leagues less rough than it had been. Aside from her claws, her fingers were surprisingly soft which was bad news for Sans at the spot she was tickling.

"aiieeeeee~! eeheheeeee! ahaaaaaaa, no mohohohore...!" The brush had left him impossibly all the more sensitive and he twitched and writhed, more tears forming in his sockets. "ahehehe dohon't wahahant anyhehe more!" A sob wracked through him and he hiccupped through his giggles.

~!~!~!~

"Okay, Undyne, I think he's had enough!"

"But I barely got to tickle him!"

"But he needs a break!"

"Ugh... Fiiiiine..." She stopped tickling and let him go, subsiding the spell.

~!~!~!~

Collapsing as she released him, Sans quiveringly wiped at his eyes, trying to stem tears that didn't seem to want to stop. He'd been so worried that his plan would backfire on Papyrus, but he hadn't thought about how badly it could go for himself. He wasn't angry at either of them, but he was severely embarrassed by his reactions and felt rather pathetic at the moment, so he kept his gaze down at the floor.

~!~!~!~

"Sans? Are you okay?" He bent down to Sans' side and hugged him gently. "I apologize if I humiliated or hurt you. I was just wanting to play with you. And besides, it's not like Undyne was going to tell anyone about this. Right, Undyne?"

Undyne was texting on her phone, muttering as she did so. "Aww, man, Toriel's gonna love to hear how ticklish Sans' ribs are! Fuhuhu!"

~!~!~!~

Sans stiffened at the mention of Toriel, the old lady behind the Ruins door he was so fond of conversing with. She would probably tease him mercilessly with 'rib-tickling' puns after this and he faintly groaned.

Burying himself into his brother's embrace, sniffling, he finally found his voice, though it was a bit hoarse. "nah ... it's ... i-i'm just being silly about it." It really wasn't a big deal, right? He had welcomed Undyne like a sister after her confession, so he really should have expected something like this. "i know you were just havin' fun bro. so was i with you." He looked up at Papyrus with a watery smile. "i mean, it's j-just tickling. no harm done, heh." He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more.

~!~!~!~

His face instantly fell and he hugged Sans tighter. "Oh, Sans, I'm so sorry... Here we were supposed to have fun and I ended up practically torturing you... I promised I'd keep you safe, but... it seems the Great Papyrus has failed..." His sockets began to water and he sniffled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, no crying here, okay? Pap, you're a great brother, and don't you ever tell yourself otherwise! And Sans, it was wrong of the both of us to do what we did to you. It may be just tickling, but that doesn't mean it can't badly affect someone if they abuse it. Now c'mon, quit it with the waterworks, you two!" After a moment of hesitation, she hugged them both close, trying to comfort and calm them down, for once her hug gentle and not bone-crushing.

~!~!~!~

Hearing his brother cry set Sans off again, hating that his actions led to his brother being upset. He was shocked out of his downward spiral at Undyne's words however. Her large, strong arms were supportive.

Sans started to relax, the stress slowly starting to leave him. The small group hug was incredibly comfortable as well, and the small skeleton nuzzled closer, now feeling very safe. "thanks ... it means a lot to hear." He sighed. "i want to have fun with it, really. maybe if you guys eased me into it more, i could handle it better? i dunno." His cheeks were finally dry and he reached up to affectionately pet at his brother's back. "the captain's right, bro. you're the best brother ever, and i know you never intended to harm me. it's okay. i'm fine, i really am. i love ya, pap, and nothin's gonna change that."

~!~!~!~

Papyrus sniffled and wiped his tears away, smiling a bit. "Thanks, you two. I really am sorry."

"Forget about it, buddy. We all still love you, ya goober!" Undyne wrapped an arm around Papyrus' neck and roughly noogied his cranium.

"PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!"

~!~!~!~

Sans chuckled in genuine mirth. Now that he knew Undyne's secret, her actions with his brother made a little more sense and held a little more meaning.

Now that his spine and ribs weren't tingling anymore, Sans pushed himself to his feet and found the nearest wall to lean against. "uhh ... i think i'm late for work. you wouldn't be able to write me a note for a sick day or something, would you, captain?"

~!~!~!~

" ...You know what? I got a better idea! Let's take the day off!"

"Nyeh? Day off?"

"Sure! I mean, I already know we won't be getting any humans today and Alphys is always telling me to take more breaks. Besides, I'm in a particularly good mood after playing with my pal-punks! Why ruin the mood with work?"

"Wowie! Really? Amazing! Thanks, Undyne!"

~!~!~!~

"now you're speaking my language." Sans eased into his lazy grin, hands in his pockets. "or, well, you would be if you threw in a few jokes." He winked, then looked at his brother. "whadd'ya wanna do with your free day, pap?"

~!~!~!~

"Ummm... I dunno. I've never really done anything other than recalibrate puzzles and train with Undyne."

"Why don't we walk back to Snowdin and think of some ideas on the way?"

"Marvelous idea, Undyne! I, the Great Papyrus, shall beat you both there! NYEH HEH HEH!" He rushed off towards Snowdin Town.

Undyne chuckled before turning to Sans. "Hey, Sans. I, uh, got something I wanna tell ya."

~!~!~!~

Sans smiled happily as he watched Papyrus dash off, then straightened up with a more sobered look, walking up to Undyne. "yeah, cap'? what is it?"

~!~!~!~

Undyne chuckled a bit before kneeling down to his level. "Hold on, lemme get down here, it kills my back bending down trying to talk to you. Anyways, uh... This is really gonna sound cheesy and cliché and all, but... Well ... Papyrus is like a brother to me and ... even though you and I don't share that same kind of relationship, I'm still your friend and you're mine. So you don't need to call me captain or cap' or anything like that, Undyne is fine. At least when we're not on duty."

~!~!~!~

Sans was touched, and he smiled brightly, briefly arching his eyes. "sure, undyne." It still felt a little disrespectful, but he didn't mind that so much. It felt good to say. "thanks. and you can call me sans. sans the skeleton," he continued jokingly, amused and happy.

Meanwhile, a small, sentient flower watched from the shadows as Papyrus jogged by. It grinned impossibly wide with sharp teeth. Ducking under the surface of the ground, it popped up right in front of the tall skeleton with a cheery, "Howdy, friend!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus yelped, startled by the sudden appearance, but once he recognized the flower, his grin brightened and he bent down to him. "Flowey! It's good to see you again!"

~!~!~!~

Flowey smiled patiently up at him. "You too, Papyrus! Golly, where are you off to in such a hurry?"

~!~!~!~

"Oh, I was just racing Sans and Undyne back home. Undyne gave all three of us a day off and we were going to go spend time together back in Snowdin! You can come along if you'd like, Flowey! The more the merrier I always like to say!"

~!~!~!~

The flower touched a leaf to his face as if in consideration. "Golly, that sounds like a fun time. I wish I could join you, friend, but I'll be awful busy this afternoon." Flowey had hoped Papyrus would be alone and he didn't want to draw any suspicion to himself by separating him from the overzealous fish and the smiley trashbag, at least not yet anyway. "But, hey, I would love to spend some time with you, Papyrus, if you can? Maybe tonight? At the usual place?"

~!~!~!~

"I'm sure I'll be able to make it tonight! After all the excitement today Undyne will probably be going to bed early, and we all know Sans can just fall asleep whenever and wherever. I'll surely be able to make it tonight!"

~!~!~!~

"How wonderful!" Flowey replied in satisfaction. Something about the skeleton's words caught his interest, and he inquired, "Say, what happened? I don't think I've ever seen you have the day off before. It must be something exciting as you say?"

~!~!~!~

"Well, earlier, Undyne and I were doing some training and a few times in between Sans and I were having a few tickle fights here and there. It was all really quite fun!" He gave a little hop of joy.

~!~!~!~

Flowey wasn't sure what the correlation was, but he wasn't going to push it. Instead, focusing on what he suddenly found even more interesting. "Really? Golly, I didn't even know skeletons were ticklish! I guess you learn something new every day, huh, friend?"

~!~!~!~

"Well, what my brother and I lack in nerves, internal organs, and pretty much everything else we make up for with magic. And yes, we all do!"

~!~!~!~

"I see! That's incredibly fascinating, Papyrus!" He meant it too. He supposed he'd never thought about it too deeply before. Of course, if skeletons could feel pain — and he knew they could — they should be able to feel other things too. It was probably because it was so par for the course; everybody felt pain. He knew that too. It became a bit boring after awhile. Physical pain anyway. There were always some very interesting results when things got emotional. Now he had some new things to think about. Possibly exciting things.

"Well, I'll let you get back to your race, friend. You seem to still be in the lead! I'll see you tonight, Papyrus!" He ducked back under the surface of the ground with a leafy wave.

Sans was also waving his temporary goodbye to Undyne. "i'll see you in snowdin," he bid with a grin, heading further into Waterfall in the exact opposite direction, turning a corner and teleporting when out of sight.

~!~!~!~

"Goodbye, Flowey!" Grinning, he continued his jog back home.

"Huh? How the hell does he do that?... Eh, whatever." She broke into a sprint towards Snowdin.


	4. Betrayal

Character Roles

Yoshachu Scorchachu ~ Papyrus  
Karnelia ~ Sans, Flowey

* * *

After making sure Sans and Undyne were both fast asleep, Papyrus quietly left the house before jogging to his appointment. Once he reached the clearing, he stopped to look around.

"Flowey! Flowey, I'm here!"

~!~!~!~

Flowey popped up to meet him with a smile. "There you are, friend! I'm glad you could make it! It's been a while, hasn't it? Did you have fun on your day off?" Papyrus was at least always a little interesting to chitchat with. Or at least the charm hadn't been worn down to a grating dullness quite yet. Even if he talked about his garbage brother quite often, the skeleton was an incredible source of information. And a naïve, malleable one at that.

~!~!~!~

"Oh, most certainly! We spent the entire day having snowball fights and building snowmen together! I, of course, built the best one! And between that Undyne decided to bury Sans in the snow as he was taking a nap and tickle his feet. It was quite funny, actually, but of course he can't stand being tickled for too long so I had to help him out. After that we went back inside and we all made spaghetti together; even Sans helped, which was very surprising but not at all undesirable! He was just in such a good mood today, and so was Undyne. I think my brother and captain are really becoming closer and closer! It's quite wonderful!"

~!~!~!~

"Golly, I'm sorry I missed out, but I'm glad to hear you had such a great time. I'm sure your brother is really benefiting from your influence, Papyrus!" He watched the skeleton carefully, waiting a moment before continuing to make sure his next words struck a little harder. "I'm sure everyone's wrong about him, with a great guy like you keeping him on track, he's just got to be cut out to help keep us safe!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus furrowed his brows a bit in confusion. "Wrong about him? Who would say anything wrong about Sans? Everyone knows what a great, reliable monster he is once you get past his laziness!"

He grinned brightly as he proceeds to brag about his brother. "In fact, he's got more part-time jobs than anyone else in the Underground, and he always manages to make enough money to pay rent every month! If it weren't for him we'd be living out on the street! He's very responsible and motivated for a lazybones, wouldn't you say?"

~!~!~!~

"Well, of course, Papyrus! You and I know that!" he said placatingly, then frowned, bringing his leaves up to his mouth as if troubled. "Golly ... I didn't really want to say anything about it, but on my way to the Ruins to cheer up the Whimsuns today, I overheard some of the villagers talking. They seemed a little upset about seeing him sleeping on the job ... and well, there were some rumors about his ticklishness being detrimental to his position if you can believe it!" There actually had already been gossip, thanks to Undyne's texting, but only because that's the sort of thing that happened in small towns. "I mean, well, you said he can't take it for too long, but it's not like that sort of thing would break him down, right?"

~!~!~!~

"Oh, dear, I told Undyne not to text that woman behind the door... Well, the problem is that he's really intolerable to tickling, especially on his sweeter spots. I accidentally went overboard on him this morning actually and he could barely even utter a word. Well, at least no one ever wants to leave the Ruins, and no one else has cell phones, so I'm sure that word won't spread! As for sleeping on the job, he hasn't been sleeping well lately, so I guess I can kinda understand that he'd need to keep up his strength. He always manages to get the job done in the end, though, so it's okay!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus's faith and optimism in things was always rather amusing. It was very interesting to hear Sans had such an exploitable weakness, but he wouldn't push it for now. Relaxing his leaves, Flowey replied, "Well, I'm sure everyone will realize that too!" Smiling, he redirected his focus to the skeleton beside him. "It's still funny to think you can be ticklish! Would you mind if I tried it out, friend?"

~!~!~!~

He stiffened, hesitating a bit. "Y-You mean on me? Well... Okay... But just be gentle, and try to stay away from my spine; it's incredibly ticklish."

~!~!~!~

Flowey was surprised at Papyrus's initial faltering, the skeleton had talked about it like it was a fun activity, so he had assumed he'd be all for it. Perhaps it would prove to be a point of weakness in the hopeful skeleton as well. How exciting! "Hehe, of course you, silly, who else?" Flowey stuck his tongue out with a teasing wink, summoning a few vines slowly so that they wouldn't startle Papyrus too much. "Don't worry, friend, I'll be careful!"

The green tendrils hovered close, giving curious prods and strokes around the skeleton's neck and feet.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus grinned nervously and lightly giggled in anticipation as he watched the tendrils inch towards him, and as they began poking around he let out squeaky giggles as he squirmed around. "N-Nyehehehehe! Ehehehehahaha! Th-That tihihickles!"

~!~!~!~

"Hehehe!" Flowey giggled along. Then he made a SAVEstate.

He only had a limited number of them, so he didn't like to use them too frivolously. But he had rather been enjoying this timeline and he didn't want to damage his relationship with Papyrus this go around. At least not now. He overwrote one where he was sure he had exhausted most outcomes anyway, so it wasn't a huge trade-off.

The vines suddenly began snaking around the skeleton's wrists and ankles, cradling joints and gently lifting him from the ground. Flowey drew himself up to a fuller height so he'd be able to see better, grinning.

~!~!~!~

He gasped and began to struggle, whimpering a bit in worry. "F-Flowey? I ... I'm not feeling too comfortable with this anymore... Please let me go..."

~!~!~!~

"Shhh, shh, it's okay, Papyrus," Flowey crooned, pressing a vine up against the skeleton's teeth. "We're just going to have a little more fun than you anticipated." He chuckled wickedly, worming tendrils under his chest-piece, exploringly feeling out and scritching at the ribs inside.

~!~!~!~

"NYAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! W-WAIT! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE, FLOWEYHYHY! YOU SAID YOHOHOU'D BE G-GEHEHEHENTLE! NYAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!" He squealed and laughed loudly as he yanked against his arm restraints, desperate to protect his torso. The vines held fast, however, so the most he could do is thrash his head, clench his fists, and curl his toes.

~!~!~!~

"I am being gentle, you naïve idiot," Flowey responded rather gleefully. "I could break your ribs if I really wanted to." That had become boring a long time ago, so luckily, it wasn't actually in his plans. A few more vines went for his feet, poking under and between the toes, and methodically stroking the soles.

~!~!~!~

"WHAHAHAHAT?! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAP!" Papyrus began growing scared as the tickling intensified, and he thrashed around harder.

~!~!~!~

Surprisingly, Flowey did, withdrawing from the two spots. "Golly, if you react like that already, then I can't wait to see what tickling your spine is like! You did say it was pretty ticklish, didn't you, Papyrus?" He leaned down close beside the skeleton's face with a dangerous smirk.

~!~!~!~

He gasped loudly and stiffened, his face twisted with fear. "YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T TICKLE THERE! PLEASE, FLOWEY!"

~!~!~!~

Flowey chuckled. "Well, actually, I said no such thing. You're just too blinded by your belief in the good of people to think I'd go against your wishes, friend." He slowly snaked his vines out to the skeleton's midsection, hovering them tantalizingly close. "It's part of what makes me like you so much, Papyrus."

~!~!~!~

"P-PLEASE, FLOWEY, DON'T DO THIS! S-SANS! SANS, HELP ME!" He tried to call out for his brother as he thrashed around, trying to wiggle his spine away from the approaching vines.

~!~!~!~

Flowey laughed. "Oh, go ahead! Cry out for help! I'll bet your brother's sleeping obliviously to everything like the lazy garbage that he is! Nobody's going to come for you, Papyrus." He stroked a vine gently against the skeleton's cheek, enjoying his fear. "I could play with you for the rest of the night. Doesn't that sound like fun?" The tendrils pounced on his spine, prodding and stroking and wiggling.

~!~!~!~

"NO, NO, PLEASE, PLE-AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE STAHAHAHAP! PL-PLEHEHEHEHEASE!" Thrashing and kicking around, he cackled uncontrollably as tears begin to fall down his bright orange cheeks.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus was so incredibly reactive, it was entertaining. Flowey loosened his grip just enough to let Papyrus physically express himself a little more, but not enough to drop him. "Golly, you weren't kidding!" He limited his methods to rapid pokes and light taps. "You probably have the most ticklish spine in the whole Underground!"

~!~!~!~

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I-I CAN'T TAHAHAHAHAKE IT! FLOWEY, PLEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA!" Papyrus made the most of what little freedom Flowey gave to struggle by kicking and jerking and flailing to the best of his ability, his hysterical face twisted in ticklish agony. "P-PLEHEHEHEHEASE! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! TH-THIS ISN'T FUHUHUN ANYMOOOOORE!"

~!~!~!~

"Well, that's too bad, friend! I'm still having fun." Flowey netted a few more vines under Papyrus to cradle him, slowing his touch to a light, teasing stroke, up and down. "But I like you. So why don't we play a little game. Maybe that will make it more fun for you, hmm?"

~!~!~!~

He squeaked and giggled, still squirming and twitching a bit, finding it very hard to concentrate through the agonizingly light strokes. "I-I-Ihehehehe! I'd rahahather go home! Plehehease!"

~!~!~!~

"Aww, is poor, tickly Papyrus homesick already?" Flowey cooed, making an incredibly obnoxious sympathetic face before it morphed into his sharp-toothed grin. "You're not going until I'm done with you, you idiot!"

Extending himself upward, Flowey carried Papyrus to a dangerous height, not quite breaching the canopy of the trees, but close to it. Carefully orienting him into a vertical position, he released all but the skeleton's wrists. "You're going to want to hang on, friend, because I'm going to let go, so hold on tight."

~!~!~!~

"WHAT?!" He shouted in panic before grabbing onto his vines as tightly as he could.

~!~!~!~

"Very good!" Flowey said encouragingly, letting go after he felt Papyrus's grip tighten sufficiently. "Now the rules of the game are very simple: I tickle you, and you don't let go! Easy, right?" He chuckled, bringing up a few vines in preparation. "If you can hang in there, I'll resume tickling you for awhile and then you can go. But if you fall, you'll probably break your legs ... and then I'll resume tickling you for awhile and then you can go."

~!~!~!~

"WHAT?! NO, PLEASE, I WON'T BE ABLE TO DO THAT! SANS, UNDYNE, SOMEBODY HELP MEEEEE!" He kicked out and flailed his legs as he threw back his head to scream.

~!~!~!~

Flowey quietly watched his desperate panicking in sick fascination for a little bit. Finally, he petted Papyrus's cheek and shushed at him. "Shh, friend, you're going to wear yourself out before we even start, and then you'll probably fall right away! Calm down, hmm?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus whimpered, but managed to calm down. "Wh-Why are you doing this? ...I thought we were friends... This isn't what friends do to one another..."

~!~!~!~

"Oh, Papyruuus...," Flowey started, voice mockingly sweet and amused. "Are you really starting to have doubts only now?" He kept up his petting in a belittling manner. He'd had similar conversations in the past, but with Papyrus it was always so SOUL-wrenchingly interesting. Flowey almost wished he could have a SOUL to feel it. "To be honest, you're probably the closest thing to a friend I have. You always seem to believe in me no matter what I do to you. That's what makes playing with you so much fun!"

~!~!~!~

If he has a heart, it would be broken. Tears begin to build in his sockets. "You... You're playing me for a fool?... How could you?..."

~!~!~!~

"Golly, don't take it too personally, Papyrus." Flowey grinned at him, clearly happy that he was. "I'm playing everybody. You just happen to be one of my favorites!" He withdrew the vine from Papyrus's cheek, inching the other vines that surrounded him closer. "Now, let's start our little game, shall we?"

~!~!~!~

"P-Please don't! Please!" The tears now fell down his cheeks as he tried to kick the vines away.

~!~!~!~

Weaving around his kicks, one of the vines managed to slip up inside his battle body, very gingerly teasing at a lower rib. "You're probably going to want to keep as still as you can, friend," Flowey advised. "You don't want to burn out too fast!"

~!~!~!~

"N-NYEHEHEHEHEHE! NO! EHEHEHEHEHEHE!" He began to giggle loudly as he squirmed around and kicked out fruitlessly, digging his fingers into Flowey's vines to keep from falling.

~!~!~!~

"There, see? You were good at this and you didn't even know it!" Flowey praised, ticklishly teasing a few more ribs, slowly and one at a time. "Then again, the Great Papyrus is good at everything, right?"

~!~!~!~

"AHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAHAP, FLOWEY! I WANNA GO HOHOHOHOME! NYAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!"

~!~!~!~

"It doesn't really matter what you want, does it, Papyrus? Unless you want to try your luck at meeting the ground, you're just going to have to take it until I'm done with you." The vine slithered outside of his armor, ghosting down the side of his spine with the barest touch.

~!~!~!~

Sockets widening, he gasped sharply as he yanked his spine away from the touch. "LEAVE MY SPINE ALONE! PLEASE!"

~!~!~!~

Flowey chuckled, half-lowering his lids, grinning in malicious satisfaction. "You sure are noisy about that spot, aren't you? Why don't we try down here for a while?" The vines lowered to his feet and knees, getting in prods and gentle swipes whenever and wherever they could.

~!~!~!~

"NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHAHAHAHA! P-PLEHEHEASE! LEAVE ME ALOHOHOHOOOONE!" He tried to lift and kick his legs and feet away from the merciless vines, his laughter mixed with all the exhausting struggling beginning to make his grip falter.

~!~!~!~

Flowey was acutely aware of the wavering grasp and he quickly eased off. "Not to worry, Papyrus, we're almost done with this!" he informed brightly, burrowing a vine up under the skeleton's scarf and teasing at his neck. "I believe in you, friend! You can win this, like you always win everything, right?"

~!~!~!~

"NYEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHE! STAHAHAHAHAHA—!" He let out a squeaky snort between fits of laughter as he tried tilting his head to protect his neck, his grip slipping a bit more.

~!~!~!~

Tendrils started coiling back around the skeleton's limbs again and Flowey began a gentle descent, figuring he'd pushed the game as far as he could go without Papyrus getting hurt. Maybe sometime he would play it again and find out if he truly reached the end of Papyrus's resolve. "Congratulations, friend! Golly, you did it! Doesn't that make you happy?" Laying the skeleton back into a horizontal position, he readied his vines again. "You've won more tickles! With unbroken legs! How great is that?"

~!~!~!~

"PLEASE, I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE TICKLING! LET ME GO, I WANT TO GO HOME! SANS, HELP ME, PLEASE, HELP MEEEEE!" He continued thrashing as he screamed and shouted, this time around his struggles much weaker than before as a result of his exhaustion.

~!~!~!~

"Shhh, shhh, it's just a little bit more," Flowey said coddlingly, wiping at the skeleton's tears. "Do you really want your brother here? After what you told me about him? If it's so bad for you, couldn't you just imagine how much worse he would feel if I did the same thing to him, hmm?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus fell completely silent, taking Flowey's words to heart, and finally he whimpered with defeat and stayed silent.

~!~!~!~

"There's a good boy!" Flowey cooed, grinning even more widely in his victory. This time, he went for every spot at once, mercilessly tickling Papyrus from head to toes.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus shrieked and wailed with hysteria, bucking and thrashing around as much as he could, but considering his strength was low he wasn't able to do much. On occasion he'd try to utter a plea for mercy, but laughter would always overwhelm him.

~!~!~!~

This had been a really entertaining evening and Flowey was pretty satisfied, finally slowing everything to a stop. A part of him was curious how the run might play out if he did actually let Papyrus go home in this state. If the skeleton tattled to his brother, he'd have an angry trashbag on his hands that was usually more trouble than it was ever worth.

"I guess we're done for now, friend, Golly, do you look exhausted!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus panted heavily and fell limp, tears falling freely down his cheeks as he closed his sockets, completely exhausted.

~!~!~!~

Flowey lowered Papyrus all the way to the ground, smiling down at him with what seemed to be pride, as if he'd just won a hard-earned trophy. He thought about his options. He didn't really want to deal with Sans if he could help it ... unless...

Withdrawing all but one vine which lightly coiled itself up the skeleton's arm, Flowey fished around in his stash that he kept in the clearing, finding a plastic bag that contained a couple-days-old Cinnamon Bunny, offering it to Papyrus. "Here, friend, you're probably going to need something to perk you up for the trip back home. Go on, it's safe!"

~!~!~!~

Considering everything that happened, he was really hesitant, yet he eventually took it, consuming the treat and regaining his strength.

~!~!~!~

The small burst of energy was enough for Flowey to latch into the skeleton's magic with his own, the vine continuing to creep around Papyrus's bones, entwining in his rib-cage. He could feel the proper channels now, drawing tighter around the magic that emanated from the skeleton's good-natured SOUL. Flowey never tried this with Papyrus before, but he was finding it rather easy. Perhaps because he'd been pushed so far. Perhaps he was still trusting enough, since he'd accepted the food from his tormentor. In any case, Flowey was excited to see how effectively he could hijack the skeleton's body.

~!~!~!~

"F-FLO—" He was cut off by the unexpected pain zapping through him as Flowey tapped into his magic, SOUL, and body. He began to let out shrill, high-pitched grunts and groans as he struggled to endure the pain, and panic flared through him as he found himself losing more and more control of his body.

~!~!~!~

The vine around his arm fully disappeared under the armor. Flowey hoisted himself up into it too, thin roots curling several times around rib-bones. The tangle of vines that were threaded around the translucent SOUL briefly sparked, the magic asserting full dominance. Papyrus could still have a bit of control, still having his own mind, but Flowey's influence and will was near absolute.

_"Howdy, Papyrus! Can you hear me?"_

~!~!~!~

"F-Flowey... What did you ... do to me?" Every word he spoke was laced with pain, finding his sentences to be dragged out. He felt the pain beginning to ebb away slowly.

~!~!~!~

_"Well, golly, I just took you as my host! You have to do whatever I say! Isn't that wonderful?"_ Chuckles echoed in Papyrus's mind.

~!~!~!~

"N-No, it isn't! Please get out of my body, I don't like this at all! This is very scary!"

~!~!~!~

_"There's nothing to be afraid of, silly. You're my host, so I'm going to take very good care of you. But first, we need to talk about some ground rules. I know you're very good at following rules, Papyrus, so you don't need to be so anxious!_

_"One of the most important things is that nobody can know about me. I'm your little secret now! How fun is that? You can't talk about me or try to indicate I'm here in any way, friend! Don't do anything out of the ordinary that you normally wouldn't do. You also can't do anything to hurt yourself or me in any manner! That would be incredibly rude!_

_"Now, I know you're tired, so you can rest up for a little while, but afterwards, you're going to head home. That's what you've been wanting so much right?"_

~!~!~!~

"... ...If I follow these rules, will you then please leave my body?"

~!~!~!~

_"If you do everything I plan for you to do, then I'll release you, yes. But if you try to fight me, friend, well ... you may be stuck with me for a very, very uncomfortable amount of time. And that pain you felt when I took over will seem pretty mild!"_

~!~!~!~

Papyrus gulped nervously before sighing in defeat. "Fine... But don't make me hurt my brother. I don't care if you're in control or not, I don't care that you have the potential to turn me to dust. If you make me hurt my brother I will make you pay dearly one way or another."

~!~!~!~

_"You soft idiot..."_ Flowey chuckled quietly. _"But you have my word, I won't make you HURT your brother."_

~!~!~!~

"Thank you... That's all that matters to me at this point..."

~!~!~!~

_"I'm so glad to have your cooperation, Papyrus! Well, once you're set, you should get going. It's getting pretty late after all!"_

~!~!~!~

"Yeah... Sure... Let's go home now and get this whole fiasco over with so I can spend time with my brother ... without you." His voice was uncharacteristically dark and a bit hostile.

~!~!~!~

Said brother was sleeping rather peacefully on his bed. It had really been one of those rare better days, even if it had gone off with a shaky start. He'd gone to bed with more happiness and hope than he'd had in what felt like ages.

~!~!~!~

Once he and Flowey reached home he sighed heavily, suddenly feeling very fatigued despite the Cinnabunny rebuilding his strength. He noticed Undyne was gone, and the soft snores coming from Sans' bedroom indicated his brother was asleep. "How long are you going to be in my body, Flowey?" When he spoke, he sounded very tired and irritable.

~!~!~!~

_"Probably only for the rest of the night, friend. Now, you're going to go to your brother's room. You're not going to hurt him like I promised, but that doesn't mean we aren't going to mess with him, hmm? He's really had it coming for a long time."_

~!~!~!~

"Wh-What? No! You're planning on doing something terrible to him, I just know it! I won't allow it! I won't!" He struggled as hard as he could to gain back control of his body, groaning and huffing with the effort.

~!~!~!~

_"Papyrus ... Papyrus...,"_ Flowey said, as if in disappointment before exerting his will into Papyrus's SOUL with a zapping squeeze. _"You're not thinking about the bigger picture here, friend. If you don't do what I want, what I want is going to become infinitely worse for him. You know what I can do. I'm happy enough with not hurting your brother ... unless you force me to. Or rather unless you force me to force you."_

~!~!~!~

Papyrus barely managed to choke back a cry of pain at the squeeze on his SOUL, and at Flowey's threat he gave in and stopped trying to fight back. "F-Fine..."

~!~!~!~

_"Good boy! Now, all I want you to do is drive your brother to the point I did to you tonight with tickling. I'm sure you know how! It should be easy, right? And if I have any suggestions on what to do, you'll follow them for me!"_

~!~!~!~

"B-But he hates being tickled! I..." He knew it was pointless to argue with Flowey, and he also knew that if he didn't do as he said, he would make him hurt Sans even worse. At least he'd be able to recover from the tickling come morning despite how agonizingly torturous it'd be for him during the assault. "Very well... You're not going to get away with this, you know that, right?"

~!~!~!~

_"Silly Papyrus ... I'm more powerful than you even realize. I know you're upset with me, friend, but even if you throw your biggest temper tantrum, you can't do anything to truly hurt me. Now, let's get to your garbage brother, hmm? The quicker that I'm satisfied, the sooner I'll let you have your body back."_

~!~!~!~

"Fine, let's get this over with." He snarled under his breath, "And my brother isn't garbage..."

~!~!~!~

_"Your brother is the trashiest smiling piece of trashy garbage and belongs in the dump!"_ Flowey shot back. _"You'll probably want to restrain him, I don't care how."_

~!~!~!~

Deciding to keep a rather nasty comment to himself, he gathered ropes used to tie down Sans earlier and tied him up the same way.

~!~!~!~

Sans lightly shifted in his sleep with a soft murmur, but otherwise didn't wake, still being very comfortable and used to his brother's hands.

_"Good! Now I think I saw a feather where you found those ropes. Why don't you use that to wake him up, hmm?"_

~!~!~!~

Feeling guilty and awfully disgusted in himself that he couldn't do anything to prevent this, he went back to retrieve said feather. Sighing and murmuring an apology in advance, he lifted up Sans' shirt and began brushing the feather along his spine.

~!~!~!~

Sans flinched, smile growing unguardedly, soft giggles starting to bubble out of him in his defenseless state. It took a few moments, but the tickling finally roused him and he yelped in surprise, finding himself once more tightly stuck to his bed. "ehee—! p-papyrus...? ahaaha...! w-whahat're you—!? ihit cahan't behe my tuhurn ahagain already...!" He squirmed, gazing up at Papyrus, looking confused and a bit nervous.

_"Tickle him how you see fit, as long as it's torture for him. I'll let you know when I have an idea for you."_

~!~!~!~

Gulping nervously, and for once in his life not sure what to even say, he just jumped straight into the tickling, stroking the feather along one side of Sans' ribs as the other hand skittered and stroked the other side.

~!~!~!~

"gaaaaahaa—! whaha!? p-pap, whahat!? aaahahaa, no, stop!" Growing scared by his brother's silence, he tried to rock his torso out of the way, but he was stretched too tautly to make a real difference. Sans noticed how unhappy Papyrus looked and his mind reeled. "pahap, whahat's th-the mahatter? ahare you upsehet with meehee? kkgghahaha!"

_"Tell him that you are."_

~!~!~!~

"Y-Yes, I am. Very upset." He stroked the feather between Sans' ribs as he used his other hand's fingers to twiddle and squeeze them. He felt so ashamed of himself he couldn't even bring himself to look at his brother's face, refusing to look at his face as it was twisted with ticklish agony.

~!~!~!~

Sans thumped his head back with a squeal, tugging on his arms. The varied ticklish sensations were a deadly mix, and Papyrus knew how to wield them both expertly. "oh gahahaha—! stahahap, seheheriously, stahap! aaahahaa! whyyyyhehee? whahat dihid i do!? aahahaaaaahaaa! pleheease!"

_"Lie."_

~!~!~!~

Papyrus began to slightly tremble in anger toward Flowey as his mind reeled on a possible lie to use, placing down the feather and using both hands to pinch and wiggle Sans' ribs. "You ... er... Remember when you and Undyne tickled me earlier after training? That's why." He felt like garbage for lying to his brother.

~!~!~!~

Sans jumped and his voice was lost to high-pitched squeaks for several moments, his entire body quivering and shaking. "gghh—! eeeeeehehehe, nnhnn-n-nahahat thahahaaaaaaat~! ahaaahaha! ghheh, dohohon't do thahahaat!" he whined shrilly. "plehehease broho! sp-spahaghetti! wehehe cahaan t-tahalk thihis out!"

_"...Spaghetti?"_

~!~!~!~

He ground his teeth and whimpered in worry, torn between obeying Flowey and granting Sans mercy. He muttered softly so Sans wouldn't hear, but Flowey could, "Sp-Spaghetti is our safe word... I-I need to stop if he uses it... Please let me give him a break at least..."

~!~!~!~

_"Interesting choice... Speaking of choices, I'll give you one. You can give him a break, but only if you hit that sweet spot you mentioned way earlier when you resume with no more breaks. Or we can just keep pushing him now."_

"pahahap! dihihid you hehear me!? spaghettiiihehehe!"

~!~!~!~

"Er... Uhh... Ummmm... I-I will give you your break now, b-but after it I will tickle your sweetest spot. That o-or I ignore you and continue." Starting to work his way up Sans' ribs, he wiggled and squeezed each one he passed.

~!~!~!~

"whaahahaha?!" Sans bucked, gulping down squeals, squinting up at Papyrus with heartbroken betrayal.

_"Hahahaa! Oh, that's funny, giving the choice to him! Is it too hard for you, Papyrus?"_

"Ghimmehehe the brehehahahaaaake! pleheheaseplease!" Sans was confused and emotionally devastated, but even if Papyrus would go after his worst spot next because of it, at least he could try and reason with his brother.

~!~!~!~

Hissing, "Shut up, Flowey...," under his breath as he stopped tickling, Papyrus hung his head in shame.

~!~!~!~

Sans slumped back, breathing hard, refusing to look at his brother while he gained back his composure.

Slowly turning his head back to face Papyrus, he seemed about to speak, but hesitated. After another attempt, he managed, "p-papyrus, why are you d-doing this to me...?" Tears sprang in his eyes. "you already got me back for earlier. why are you so ups-set?" His voice broke in a sob and tears dripped down his face. "whyhehe, pap? you know i can't take this! ...ahaaaa...—!" It was difficult to speak anymore as he started fully crying.

~!~!~!~

Tears begin to build up in his sockets as well. "I... I... Just... Just try to tolerate this a little longer... I'm doing this for your own good..." He turned Sans' SOUL blue so he couldn't escape as he turned him around on his belly and tied him back up.

~!~!~!~

Sans didn't put up much of a fight, only trying to curl in on himself and weeping openly. "dohon't do thihihis...!" he begged between shoulder-shaking sobs. "y-you d-didn't wanna t-torture mehe ... this is—! this is tohorture...! pleeeeease ... please pap ... please..."

~!~!~!~

"I ... I'm only protecting you!" On the verge of sobs himself, he began the tickle onslaught on his super sweet spot, tickling fast and hard rather than slow and soft, which was actually less ticklish than the other way around.

~!~!~!~

Sans lurched as the sensation hit him, fingers weakly splaying, limbs feebly tugging. "ggahaha—! st-stahapstahap! pleehehease stahahaaaa—!" He very suddenly gave up on pleading, now only sobbingly laughing, and rather quietly at that. His tugs turned to twitches. Then all at once he wailed and all he could do was cry. Even though it tickled terribly, he couldn't laugh anymore. He briefly wondered if monsters could die from something like this. He almost wished he could.

_"Well, I think you did it, Papyrus! Good job, friend!"_

~!~!~!~

Watching his brother sobbing hysterically finally broke him; for a moment he didn't care about the consequences, he just wanted to stop Sans' misery. "I'M NOT DOING THIS ANYMORE!" He stopped tickling and backed away. "There! He's been driven insane like how you drove me insane! Now get the hell out of my body! NOW!"

~!~!~!~

Sans seemed to have fallen into a near-catatonic state, either unable or unwilling to respond to his brother anymore at the moment. It didn't even seem to have made a difference that he'd stopped.

_"Pussssshyyyy, gollyyyy! Step outside real quick and I'll let you have your body back, friend!"_

~!~!~!~

"Good!" He stomped outside, the whole time crying in regret for torturing his brother and in lividity toward Flowey.

~!~!~!~

_"Here we are! This should do!"_

Flowey began the process of dis-tangling himself from Papyrus, both physically and magically, easing out of his system, and he finally dropped himself out from the skeleton's armor, ducking under the ground.

He wondered if he'd finally done it; if this was what made Papyrus stop believing in him. He could overlook murder, but not this? How interesting! He would reLOAD, but not until the morning, not until he spied on what Papyrus would do, from a distance of course.

His voice echoed tauntingly. "Remember, friend, you'll have plenty of time to come after me, but your brother needs you now."

Flowey ran away, giggling.

~!~!~!~

"Don't count on it, you vile thing..." He stormed back inside and locked the door before rushing up to Sans' room and quickly untying him. "Sans! Sans, are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

~!~!~!~

Sans's crying had quieted, but his eyelights were out, sockets empty, mouth unnaturally curving downward. He'd dared to be happy, to care again for a little while, and he'd been brutally reminded that nothing really mattered. His brother was angry with him and he couldn't fathom why. He heard Papyrus from what felt like far away, realizing his limbs were free, and curled up, trying to feebly hide himself away.

~!~!~!~

"Please, Sans, let me just explain! I don't hate you, and I was never even upset! I was being blackmailed by someone! If I didn't give in to his demands he would have made me severely hurt you! Please... Don't be sad again... I love it when you're happy, it's so elusive and meaningful to me... Please, I'm so sorry, Sans..." Collapsing to his knees, he buried his face in his hands as he sobbed.

~!~!~!~

Sans slowly woke up from his depressed fog, hearing his brother's words long before comprehending them. The sound of Papyrus crying snapped him back fully, and he blinked, pupils returning. "pap...," he croaked in a whisper, sitting up and shuffling weakly to him, reaching a trembling hand to touch his shoulder.

~!~!~!~

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, brother... I hate that flower, I hate him, _I hate him!_ He promised me he wouldn't make me hurt you!" He trembled uncontrollably as he sobbed.

~!~!~!~

Sans was a bit shocked, he'd never heard Papyrus sound so vehement before. It finally clicked that his brother was upset, but not at _him_. Taking his brother's hand in one of his own, he raised his other hand level with the taller skeleton's chest, lightly resting quivering fingers near his SOUL. He magically flooded his feelings into him, unable to hold back how scared he was or the dregs of hopelessness, but most of all he shared his love and forgiveness and concern.

~!~!~!~

These magical feelings of fear and compassion mingled together only made the tears fall faster, and Papyrus hung his head, unable to bring himself to look at the brother he mercilessly tortured, unable to do anything about the parasite controlling him. One thing was for certain, the Flowey Fan Club was going to be no more after tonight.

~!~!~!~

Sans leaned up against Papyrus, closing his eyes. "s'kay, pap... 'm not so easy to _vertebrae-ke_, 'member? heh..." His smile was slowly returning.

~!~!~!~

"I... I've never been more happy to hear your terrible puns! Oh, Sans!" He hugged Sans tightly and sobbed over his shoulder.

~!~!~!~

Sans returned the hug, rubbing at his brother's neck soothingly. He wanted to ask more about what had happened and the flower that had apparently blackmailed him, but that could wait. They were both emotionally spent and Sans figured they both needed a bit more cheering up first. Withdrawing, he got shakily to his feet and tugged on his brother's hand. "c'mon, bro."

~!~!~!~

Papyrus sniffled as he stood up, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I ... I understand if you're angry with me... I deserve it for trusting that vile flower..."

~!~!~!~

"if 'm angry at anyone, 's'at the guy who had the _nerve_ t' hurt you, pap." He squeezed his hand reassuringly, grabbing a pillow and blanket to tuck under his free arm before gently leading him from his room. "no rules t'night, we're sleepin' on the couch."

~!~!~!~

"Very well... I could care less about rules right about now... Th-Thank you, Sans..."


	5. Betrayal: Aftermath

Character Roles

Yoshachu Scorchachu ~ Papyrus  
Karnelia ~ Sans, Flowey

* * *

Heading down the stairs, Sans tossed the pillow on one end of the couch, and set the blanket down. "gonna make some hot water. y'-ya want anything, pap?"

~!~!~!~

"N-No, thank you... I just want to sleep..."

~!~!~!~

"'kay, get comfy, i'll join ya in a minute." He went and busied himself in the kitchen, boiling water and fixing himself a mug of tea, adding copious amounts of milk. Leaning against the wall, he sipped it, then brought a hand up to his face, resting his skull against his fingers. Why was something about a flower so ... familiar? Why would it target them like this? Did it have something to do with the anomaly?

His mug was half empty. The thing had used Papyrus to get to him. It knew, it somehow knew Papyrus was his soft spot. He shuddered. If anything else happened to his brother because of him...

He finished his drink, setting the empty mug on the counter, returning to the couch.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus was resting on the couch under the blanket, clutching his chest tightly as he lightly moaned in discomfort; the aftermath of Flowey's possession over him was finally catching up to him, and as a result his SOUL ached, feeling like a fiery cramp.

~!~!~!~

Worry etched into Sans's expression, and he hurried to his brother's side. "woah, pap, you okay? not lookin' so hot there, buddy..."

~!~!~!~

"My SOUL... It ... h-hurts..." Each word was stretched and laced with pain, as if speaking made the fire intensify.

~!~!~!~

"ah, geez, just try to relax, okay?" Sans wasn't great at healing, he wasn't sure what to do. He gently petted at his brother's skull. "is there anything i can get you? you want me to call a doc?"

~!~!~!~

"N-No... I al ... already ... burdened you ... enough... Hnnng...!" Clutching his chest tighter, he brought his knees up as he gritted his teeth and shut his sockets tightly.

~!~!~!~

"ah—! no, pap, it's not like that!" Sans said anxiously. "if you need help, ya gotta let me know!" He lifted and crawled under the blanket, holding his brother somewhat delicately. "i'm here for you, okay? i love ya, bro. please, if there's anything i can do to help it would make me less worried!"

~!~!~!~

"...Well, if it ... will ease your nerves ... or lack thereof... N-Nyeh heh heh-ow!..." His weak laughter was cut off by another groan of pain, and he began to breathe heavily. "C ... Call a ... doctor..."

~!~!~!~

Sans smiled at the joke but found himself too worried to laugh. "okay ... okay, i'll get your cell phone." He slipped off the couch, finding the phone in his brother's room and proceeded to make a few calls. He gave the wall a helpless pound before returning. "they don't do house calls at this time of night," he said in frustration. "we'd have to wait until morning. i could take you to the hospital, they're always open. do you want to go? is it really bad?"

~!~!~!~

"I ... I..." Papyrus broke into a fit of coughs, and he ended up letting out a shrill whine of pain. "Y-YES!..."

~!~!~!~

"geeze, okay, we're gonna go, then." He gingerly tugged his brother from the couch, gripping his hand. "h-hang on tight and don't be scared, pap, i know a shortcut." It was just a little harder to bring someone along, but Sans managed to teleport them right at the entrance to the monster hospital that was nearby the Core. Helping Papyrus inside, he checked him in and collapsed in a chair in the waiting room, antsy for any news.

~!~!~!~

A few hours later, a doctor walked into the waiting room with a clipboard. "Mr. Sans? Please come to the back with me."

~!~!~!~

Sans hopped up instantly. "of course." He followed along closely, biting back all his frantic questions.

~!~!~!~

The doctor led Sans down a hallway. "We have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

~!~!~!~

"i guess leave me with a little hope, doc. what's the bad news?" His hands quivered in his pockets.

~!~!~!~

"Something — or someone — is harassing your brother. It's been going on for months now. Papyrus had told us of a talking flower by the name of Flowey who lives in the Ruins and visits him from time to time. We have contacted Dr. Alphys to see if she knew anything about him. Turns out ... he was created by her via DETERMINATION injection on the bed of flowers the prince died in. Alphys says this flower poses a potential threat to not only your brother, but every monster in the Underground."

"Keep a lookout for him, Sans, and don't let Papyrus near him. The Royal Guard have been informed to keep a lookout for him and destroy him upon contact."

~!~!~!~

Sans slowed to a halt, eyes wide. The news was overwhelming. Fragments of colors, of smells, people, places — dark, darker places — assaulted his mind all at once, but he couldn't make any sense of it. He gulped, trembling, and nodded at the doctor. "i'm going to do everything in my power to keep papyrus safe," he promised. "i'll definitely be keeping a closer watch."

~!~!~!~

"Good. Now for the good news: we have managed to heal Papyrus' SOUL and body; we found a few cracks in his bones. He's resting now, and by tomorrow morning he should be good as new."

~!~!~!~

Sans nearly cried in relief, letting out a long exhale. "thank you, doctor. thanks so much! am i allowed to stay with him until then?"

~!~!~!~

"Yes, but only for a little while. Visiting hours end in fifteen minutes."

~!~!~!~

"okay, lead the way, then, doc, i'd like to see him for as long as i can." The wait had been pretty excruciating, and Sans couldn't be quite satisfied without seeing how Papyrus was doing with his own eyes.

~!~!~!~

"Oh, and just a word of precaution: don't wake him up. Every time he's woken up by a nurse he wakes up screaming, possibly due to nightmares triggered by the flower." Reaching a door at the end of the hall, the doctor opened it for Sans. Upon looking inside, he could see Papyrus resting peacefully in a hospital bed wearing a hospital gown. "A nurse will come collect you once visiting hours are over."

~!~!~!~

If skeletons could pale, Sans probably would have at the doctor's warning. He had enough experience with nightmares — the possibility that Papyrus was suffering from them was hard to take. He nodded his acknowledgement, quietly stepping inside and coming to a sit in a somewhat cushy chair close to the bed. Seeing Papyrus was enough to lift his spirits, especially since he looked so calm at the moment.

Glancing over at a small table in the corner of the room, he saw Papyrus's armor stacked neatly on top of it. It'd been awhile since Sans had seen his brother without it. He looked a little smaller, a little frailer than he remembered. He wiped at his sockets.

~!~!~!~

A few minutes after the doctor had left, Papyrus began to mutter incoherently as he shifted around in bed, his sockets closed a bit tighter. Sans could make out the occasional, "No...," as he whimpered.

~!~!~!~

Sans lightly jumped, expression growing more concerned by the second. He didn't want to wake Papyrus as the doctor had advised, but he was clearly not having a soothing rest at the moment. Quietly pulling his chair closer, he tentatively reached for Papyrus's hand, thought better of it, and pulled his hand back. He might react badly to being touched. Maybe even talked to. He definitely was too apprehensive to try communicating with his SOUL, since that was one of the main things that was recovering. After a few moments of consideration, he started to quietly hum.

He wasn't much for singing — didn't do that too often. But he could work the notes well enough in this manner. It was a wistful, sad sort of tune. Maybe not the most comforting, but he knew it well, though he wasn't sure from where. It seemed good for rainy days. It wasn't raining out now, but maybe it was raining elsewhere, he mused. He continued, slowly, and soft, expressing his feelings through it in any case, hoping Papyrus would hear and understand.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus was probably able to hear Sans' humming through his dreams, for he was beginning to calm down a bit until he was only lightly twitching and making tiny little 'nyeh's in his sleep.

~!~!~!~

Seeing that his brother was doing a little better, Sans smiled softly as he continued to hum. Papyrus was quite adorable when he slept, always had been since he'd been a babybones. Sans thought about how he often read to Papyrus until he would drift off.

...How could he have let this happen to his innocent brother? How did he not see the signs? The last thing he wanted to do was encroach on his brother's independence, but now he felt like he would need to keep an eye on him at all times, at least until that flower was taken care of.

That flower. How dare he. How dare he do this to Papyrus! Maybe it had wanted to punish Sans for whatever reason. Maybe he was too involved in the business of the anomaly. Or maybe it was just randomly acting as he guessed the anomaly might and they'd gotten unlucky. Whatever the reason was, it was unacceptable.

The Royal Guard might be on the hunt, but Sans had half a mind to go looking for it himself.

~!~!~!~

All of a sudden, Papyrus' peaceful slumber erupted into violent jerks and shouts, his nightmare having gotten much worse, and he started screaming in his sleep. "N-NO! L-LEAVE HIM ALONE! NO! NO!"

~!~!~!~

Sans really did jump this time, snapped roughly from his thoughts. Now incredibly concerned, he decided it was worth trying to use his voice. "pap...," he said softly. "pap, it's okay. i'm here bro, everything's all right."

~!~!~!~

"LEAVE HIM ALONE! LEAVE HIM ALONE! GAAAH!" With a shriek he sat up rapidly, now fully awake, and he panted loudly and heavily as he clutched the chest of his hospital gown.

~!~!~!~

Sans felt his SOUL ache. "pap, hey, you're okay," he continued. "look at me, buddy, c'mon. you were sleepin'. just breathe, okay?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus yelped at Sans' voice and whipped his head around to stare at him through widened sockets. Before Sans could even finish his sentence, Papyrus scooped him up and hugged him tightly — a little too tightly — as he broke into uncontrollable sobs. "OH, MY GOSH, SANS, YOU'RE OKAY! OH, THANK GOODNESS!"

~!~!~!~

"ghk—!" A little winded from the squeezing, but glad his brother wasn't still stuck in his nightmare, Sans gently hugged Papyrus back, nuzzling against him. "course, bro." His voice was a little strained, but didn't hint at any pain. "how could i not be when i've got such a cool guy lookin' out for me, huh?"

~!~!~!~

"Oh, Sans... I ... I had a dream that ... that that flower was possessing me again... He was making me fight you... He was making me k-kill you..." He began to softly weep as he buried his face in Sans' shoulder.

~!~!~!~

"well, it's only ever gonna be a dream, pap. i'm not gonna let that ever happen! i promise." If he was right about the anomaly, it very well could happen. It could even have happened already for all he knew. His own nightmares often felt so real, even if they were sometimes jumbled and confusing. But that didn't matter. As long as he had the knowledge he had now, he would do everything in his power to keep Flowey away from Papyrus.

~!~!~!~

"Umm... I ... I had another bad dream before that one... It was really bad... But it didn't have Flowey in it... You wouldn't mind if I told you about it to get this off my chest, would you?"

~!~!~!~

"you can tell me anything, papyrus. that's what brothers are for, right?" Sans answered gently, looking up at him and quietly encouraging him to continue.

~!~!~!~

"Well... I ... I had a dream that ... there was a figure... It was really fuzzy, but ... it was green and yellow... I ... I found myself trying to encourage this figure and tell it that I would help it steer back on a right path... Heh, you'd think one would know why they themselves say the things they do in dreams, when in this case I had no idea what I was trying to encourage them to do. We were in Snowdin... It was really misty, hence the blurriness... They ... came close to me, and I felt myself get scared... Then they... Erm... They had a kn-knife, a-and..." He gulped heavily, unable to bring himself to finish his sentence, but his hand subconsciously wrapped itself defensively around his throat.

~!~!~!~

The eyelights in his sockets slightly dimmed and wavered. It was so strange, but he felt like he had the same dream, just from a different perspective. His skull began to faintly pound and he lightly winced, time seemed to shift and garble around him as if it were malleable. He almost felt like he could reach out and touch it, arrange all the pieces in neat little lines that made sense, but it scattered away before he could even try. Were they seeing things that had happened? Things that were to happen in the future? Was any of it even real at all? If it was, how could they even hope to try to keep it from happening?

_Why_ even try?

His sockets were blank. He blinked and his pupils reappeared. "sounds pretty scary, bro. but you're safe, right here with me, huh?" He sat up, carefully observing Papyrus's movements. Softly smiling, he slowly raised a hand in a non-threatening manner to his brother's neck. "s'matter? you worried about something there? lemme see," he said playfully, worming his fingers past his brother's, very gently wiggling.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus let out a startled squeak before giggling and squirming a bit, his laughter sounding light-hearted as he was thankful for the tense, uncomfortable atmosphere being broken. "H-Hehehey! Nyehehehehe! Sans!"

~!~!~!~

"heheheh!" Sans withdrew his hand, eyes arched. He leaned against his brother again with a soft sigh. "they're probably gonna kick me out soon, but i'm glad i got to visit with you, bro. i don't want you to worry, okay? you feeling better here?" He touched his own chest to indicate what he meant.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus chuckled a bit as he calmed down. "Yes, brother. ...And you? How are you feeling? After that whole tickle torture fiasco earlier I mean... I imagine I put a real damper on your mood... I'm sorry..."

~!~!~!~

"don't blame yourself for what happened, pap. it's really not your fault. and i ... well, you ... you said that you were protecting me. it's a little bit of a blur, but i remember you saying that. i ... i think you were even holding back a bit, weren't you? in some ways? so, don't be sorry pap. you were looking out for me, even if i didn't understand at the time. and i know it was killin' you inside to do what that _creep-er_ wanted." He looked away. "i guess maybe i don't really wanna be tied up like that again ... for a while at least. but, otherwise, i'm pretty good. we still came through in the end, right? maybe i got _rattled_, but, he ultimately couldn't take away my trust in you."

~!~!~!~

His sockets watered a bit and he sniffled as he wiped his tears away. "Thank you, Sans. You really are the greatest brother. Well, not nearly as great as the Great Papyrus, but still great!"

~!~!~!~

Chuckling, Sans looked up with a laid-back grin. "well, naturally. nobody can be greater than that, heh." He glanced down. "man, you even make these weird medical gown things look cool."

~!~!~!~

"Well, of course they do! The Great Papyrus looks good in anything!" He struck a pose, grinning confidently, immediately blinking the tears away.

~!~!~!~

"you're as fashionable as they come, bro. hey, would you like me to bring any of your casual clothes by? in case they let you wear 'em? i don't think they'll let you wear your armor around the hospital if you get the chance to walk around a bit. or is there anything else you might want from home?"

~!~!~!~

"Well, I would like my date-slash-hangout clothes. You know, the Cool Dude shirt and the MTT Brand Fashionable Basketballs? I'm sure I'd be allowed to wear that around! Oh, and all my spaghetti and puzzle shirts!"

~!~!~!~

"heheh, you got it. i'll get 'em to ya as soon as i can." Sans shimmied down at Papyrus's side, laying in a relaxed stretched. "hey, this bed isn't all too bad, is it? probably way better than that crummy sofa i was gonna have us sleep on. you got lucky." He grinned widely.

~!~!~!~

"Yeah, no joke about that. That sofa's always hurting my spine... We really need to think about getting a new one, but we're already trying to pay off the last two sofas Undyne destroyed. Yeesh..."

~!~!~!~

Sans was about to agree, when a wave of exhaustion suddenly cascaded over him, his sockets drooping. After being woken up so harshly and tortured to the end of his rope, he hadn't gotten any sleep in several hours — most of which were spent fretting with worry — and it was finally hitting him hard. "oh, woah..."

~!~!~!~

"Sans, are you okay? ...Oh, you're probably still very tired. Well, don't worry about bringing me my clothes today, you go home and rest. I'll be fine."

~!~!~!~

Sans sluggishly nodded. "yeah, i guess i ... oh, speaking of undyne ... gotta call her an' get another day off, heh. maybe she'll bring your clothes over for ya..." He yawned, pushing himself up, forcing himself from the cozy bed and giving Papyrus's hand a squeeze. "you get yourself back 'n shape an' i'll see ya real soon."

~!~!~!~

"Okay. I love you, brother." Papyrus leaned in to hug him. "Travel home safely. I know you have those shortcuts of yours, but still be careful. And watch out for Flowey."

~!~!~!~

"love ya too, papyrus." He hugged back affectionately. "thanks, i'll be careful." Waving with a smile, he opened the door and stepped out, slowly closing it so it softly clicked. He made his way out of the hospital's front doors and searched for a secluded spot so he could teleport back home.

Even though his was tired, he was determined to keep his brother safe. ...He was ... determined.

Flowey had been injected with DETERMINATION.

_DETERMINATION. Why was it so important!?_

He tapped into his magic and teleported. And that's when everything went dark. And darker. And yet darker. And Sans was staring into the void. And the void was staring back. And suddenly he remembered something he'd forgotten. _Someone_ he'd forgotten.

His head pounded with the impossible knowledge. He had to get out! Get out now before he was swallowed away from existence itself. His magic flared in panic and he latched solely on the thought of home.

Cold didn't affect him very much, but he was cold and everything was blindingly white and it stung his sockets. Everything shaking, he realized he was sitting deep in a bank of snow, nearby his own house. He jumped up and dug into his short's pocket, fumbling for his workshop key. Finding it, he hastily jammed it into the lock, flinging the door open and rushing into his lab area.

This place alone seemed impervious to hiccups in time. Sans often found notes here he couldn't remember writing. Pictures and binders of data he had no recollection of. The broken machine in the corner still radiated a faint energy that he could never figure out, but he was sure it was the reason.

Shakily grabbing a fresh sheet of paper, he started scribbling three figures.

He knew why DETERMINATION was so important now, and Flowey was full of it. He was a literal time-bomb that was probably ticked. And everyone was out to destroy him now. Which would force a reset. And he wouldn't remember anything. No one would remember anything that had happened and Flowey could continue his terrorizing of them all.

He finished his sketchy drawing, writing the words 'don't forget' with such force that the pencil broke. _He didn't have time for this!_ Scrabbling for a pen, he grabbed another piece of paper, just putting the tip to the surface when he heard something slithering behind him.

This was too important, nothing else mattered. He penned a few words of warning in near illegible letters in his terror before he was snatched around the middle.

"Howdy! Figure something out, Trashy?"

He'd left the door wide open. _Stupid!_

_Time was up!_

Sans was still Sans until the end. "heh ... you got the wrong guy. trashy's the name of our garbage bag. he lives in the garbage can. papyrus named him."

"Golly, well, that's exactly where you belong!"

And very suddenly, dust exploded all over the floor.


	6. But Isn't It Torture?

Character Roles

Yoshachu Scorchachu ~ Papyrus  
Karnelia ~ Sans, Flowey

* * *

Flowey LOADed his SAVEstate. And there was Papyrus, giggling under a few softly teasing tendrils. Flowey withdrew them. "Golly, that sure was fun! Thanks for letting me tickle you, Papyrus!"

Sans was sleeping peacefully until the rippling effects of time washed through him, kick-starting the beginning of an intense nightmare. He flinched, moaning and restless.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus giggled a bit and shook himself off to remove the ghost of the tickles. "Not a problem, Flowey! And thanks for not going overboard! I'm glad I can trust you!"

~!~!~!~

"Well, of course, friend! I wouldn't want to overwhelm you, that would be rude!" Flowey smiled at him. "I was just a little curious is all. Hey, maybe you should try me? I don't even know if I'm ticklish, nobody's ever tried!"

~!~!~!~

"Hmm? Well, okay, if you insist." He experimentally tickled the back of Flowey's petals gently with a finger.

~!~!~!~

It was a little nostalgic, he supposed. He almost had forgotten what it felt like, having lived in his current body for so long. But it still wasn't quite as intense as what he could remember. "Hehehe! Oh, I guess I aham!" He lightly shook his petals, curling his leaves up to his mouth.

~!~!~!~

"Oh, wowie! That is really cute! Nyeh heh heh!" He stopped and grinned.

~!~!~!~

Grinning back up at the skeleton, Flowey made cutesy small talk with Papyrus until he had his fill. It had been fun playing with him, but he didn't want to burn out his possibilities with him too quickly. Papyrus was still a big favorite of his, after all. But maybe when he tried out a few other things, it would feel fresher and more exciting again. "Golly, it's getting late isn't it?"

~!~!~!~

"Oh, yes, it is! I really should be getting home now. It was nice seeing you again, Flowey! I can't wait to visit you again! Good night!" With a final grin and wave, he began his jog back home.

~!~!~!~

"I always enjoy our talks, friend! See you around, Papyrus!" Flowey waved back before burrowing under the ground.

Sans was still wrapped up in his nightmare, an impossible darkness hanging at the edges of his mind.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus made it back home, walking in, and almost immediately he could sense his brother having a nightmare in his bedroom. Rushing to Sans' room, he stormed in, noticing him tossing and muttering in fear in his sleep, and rushed to his side before shaking him. "Sans! Sans, wake up! Please! You're having a nightmare!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus's voice guided Sans back from the dark, and he bolted up, wheezing rapidly, bringing trembling hands to either side of his head. He was used to waking from panic-inducing dreams — half the time with his brother's aid — and tried to calm down, waiting for his SOUL to stop fluttering like some trapped insect. "ghhhhnn ... ow ... nn ... thanks for wakin' me, pap." He closed his eyes again tightly. His skull was dully throbbing, which was a bit unusual, but he didn't think much of it, only that it was uncomfortable. "sorry if my fussin' got you outta bed or anything."

~!~!~!~

"Er... I-It's no big deal, brother. I'm always here to help you no matter what, you know that. Would you like for me to stay with you until you fall back asleep?" He didn't both asking what his dream was about; he knew Sans would never tell him anyway for some reason.

~!~!~!~

At the thought of going back to sleep, a burst of cold terror spiked through Sans. He lightly jolted with a startled breath, hands dropping to clutch at his shirt.

Sans loved to sleep, even the threat of nightmares normally wouldn't deter him from it — even if they were upsetting, they were nothing new. But, what he just woke from upset him more than he initially realized. He wasn't even sure why, it was one of those jumbled, shifting ones that made little sense, but there had been a constant, oppressive ... emptiness that dogged him throughout, and he had a strange feeling like he'd lost something important.

"well, if you wouldn't mind, pap, i ... i'd really like the company." He smiled up at Papyrus and he felt a panging of anxiety that he couldn't place, like he needed to do something, but couldn't remember what. He slid over to make room for his brother.

~!~!~!~

"Thank you, brother. ...Actually, I have a better idea. You're going to sleep in my room tonight. Perhaps a clean bed in a clean room would ease your slumber tonight." He scooped Sans up and walked to his room. Despite not either of them feeling cold, Papyrus' body still felt colder than normal, and a bit wet as well, almost as if he were outside doing something rather than sleeping...

~!~!~!~

Sans gave a soft vocalization of surprise that turned into sheepish chuckles. "heheh, maybe so, bro. thank you." He clung to him a bit more tightly than normal. The lingering chill from Papyrus's outdoor activities was only just noticeable to Sans, and he found that his brother's scarf was quite damp, soaked-through enough to suggest a longer period of time out in the snow than just a brief outing, not yet dried enough to suggest he hadn't been back for long. Sans didn't say anything on the way to Papyrus's room, but it seemed weird — Papyrus hadn't said he'd be doing anything else that night, not that he had to have Sans's permission to do as he liked. But, he didn't want to let it go, so he decided to inquire once they got settled.

~!~!~!~

Once in his room, Papyrus placed Sans in bed and draped the blanket over him. "There you go. Much cozier than that messy ol' bed of yours, right? Nyeh heh heh!"

~!~!~!~

"well ... i gotta admit, it's pretty _comforter-able_," Sans glanced at Papyrus with an amused grin, "i _mattrass-k_ you how you keep it so tidy!" He started snickering into his hands.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus narrowed his eyes and grunted, then grinned deviously. "Well, the key, Sans, is to tickle your bed until it agrees to be neat and tidy. Just like this!" He playfully tickled Sans' feet through the bed covers.

~!~!~!~

Sans's pitch jumped to a squeak, and he reflexively drew his legs up and rolled on his side, grin widening and eyes arched as he lightly thrashed under the covers. "eehehee~! ahahaa! i-i'm suhure ihit knohows nahat to gehet outta line wihith you!" He found his spirits lifting and his previous stress from the night terror was starting to melt away.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus laughed as he stopped. "That's right! Even my bed fears the powers and capabilities of Tickle Master Papyrus! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"

~!~!~!~

"heheh ... i think you've really earned that title, bro," Sans said in mirth. He hadn't forgotten his questions about what Papyrus had been doing so late, but he didn't want to seem suspicious or nosy so he continued to hold off.

And ... well ... he couldn't quite understand it, but ... "hey, pap...," he began slowly. He looked away, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed, cheeks tinging blue. "uhh ... would you mind ... tickling me a little more?" He chuckled, a bit incredulous and sheepish. It must sound so weird, it _was_ so weird. He'd had such a nice day when it came down to it, and when he'd thought about it, all the ticklish antics his brother and friend had put him through distracted from the larger things he worried about, helped him feel grounded to the moment. "n-no magic or ropes—" A sudden feeling of extreme dread welled up in him at the thought of ropes, though he was confused as to why. It hadn't been _that_ awful that morning. "no ropes," he reiterated. "j-just ... i guess it's a little ... fun? if you want to?"

He hoped he wasn't blushing as much as he felt he was.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus blinked in confusion, then he smiled affectionately. "Anything to make you happy, Sans. It's always fun to play with you like this anyway!" He giggled as he began to lightly tickle his ribs, making sure not to go overboard.

~!~!~!~

Sans was greatly relieved that Papyrus was nice enough not to question him about it. He wasn't really sure he could explain how something so torturous was making him happy, because he didn't understand it himself.

His eyes widened briefly as his brother went for the ribs, but he remembered him saying it was his favorite spot to go to on him and he did his best not to fight him off. "gheh—! aahaaaha~! aaha, oh gahash ihit tihickles!" Eyes squeezed shut, he dug the fingers of one hand into the sheets, sliding his other arm under the pillow and curling the edge up to the side of his skull, trying to keep his limbs out of the way. "eheheee! gh~hahahaa! ahahaaheehee~!" His brother's fingers were so devastatingly clever. Geeze, why had he asked for this!?

Part of him hoped he wouldn't stop.

~!~!~!~

"Wowie, I never knew you liked being tickled, Sans! Well, just don't forget you can always use the safe word and I'll stop immediately." He decided to kick it up a notch by removing his gloves and sliding his hands under Sans' shirt to scrape his fingertips against bare bone.

~!~!~!~

"ahehe dunno ihif i doohoo!" Sans admitted, blushing fiercely and lightly kicking. He managed to open his eyes enough to give Papyrus a sincere look. "i juhust truhust you—! ahahaaa!" His frame jumped and he squealed as Papyrus touched his ribs directly. "kkkkgh—! oh gahaha—! ahaa! aaahhaahaha, oh plehehehease! eeeheheeee~!" His hands jumped to his own defense, starting to push, but then he drew them up again resting on either side of his head just above his sockets, fingers curled, arms bent at the elbows as he shook with laughter.

~!~!~!~

"Nyehehehehe! Let's see just how long you can keep your arms up, brother!" He started to very gently twiddle and squeeze each individual rib, slowly working his way up his ribcage.

~!~!~!~

"eeeeeeeehee, nahahaahat thahat! gheh—! aaaaaahaa~!" His grin was stretched out broadly, and he tossed his head at the gentle squeezes. He clenched his fingers against his palms. "whyyhehe does thaha—! thahat t-tihickle soho muhuch! eeeeheeeehee!" One hand departed in a brief, half-hearted bat at the air before returning. It was so incredibly maddening how such little touches could affect him so much. As Papyrus's fingers climbed, his pitch continued to grow squeakier.

~!~!~!~

"Awww! Sans, you laugh like a cute little baby bones! Nyehehe!" He grinned happily as he transitioned between gliding his arched fingers across his ribs horizontally and spider-tickling up and down his ribs and spine.

~!~!~!~

Sans now covered his eyes, shaking his head. "eeheee, nohoho, no!" Writhing under the sensation, he shivered and jumped. His giggles were a bit whiny at the slow tease across his ribs, "eeheheeee, nnaahaaa~! gghheheheheeee~!" — gasping with breathy chuckles as the onslaught became more rapid and breached his spine. "ghh—! ahaa! ahaha! ghehehahaaa—!" His entire rib-cage was tingling, and Sans finally slipped into a defensive state, pushing and trying to bat Papyrus's hands away in earnest.

~!~!~!~

"D-Do you want me to stop? Have you forgotten the safe word? I'm not torturing you, am I?" His tickle onslaught began to drastically slow as he fretted over his brother's well-being.

~!~!~!~

Sans's fighting slowed as well, and he was able to take in deep breaths between quieter giggles. "heheh! ... hh ... hahaven't fohorgotten. ahaaa, buhut, ahe'm probably hihitting myhe lihimit. you cahan stahap, haha~!"

~!~!~!~

"Oh, okay." He stopped tickling and let Sans catch his breath. Once he finally had, Papyrus began to snicker and smirk teasingly. "Sooooo?~"

~!~!~!~

Sans fully relaxed, his breathing evening out. He felt ... happy. He really did.

Then he jumped, finding himself lightly squirming under the expression Papyrus was giving him. _Oh, geeze!_ "so what?" he asked in a higher pitch than he'd meant to, cheeks beginning to glow again.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus snickered behind a hand as he smirked. "When were you planning on telling me about your little 'interest' if you catch my drift?~ Wink-wink, nudge-nudge~"

~!~!~!~

"oh, geeze, papyruuuuuus!" Sans whined, hiding his face in his hands, mortified. "it's not—! i don't...!" He grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled it over his head.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus laughed loudly and slapped the bed a few times in his hysteria. "Oh, Sans, I'm only teasing you! But apparently it's true on account of how flustered you're getting. But it's completely fine, brother, I don't discriminate. And if you wish for future tickle sessions to feed your fetish then I would happily oblige if it would make you happy." He smiled innocently.

~!~!~!~

Peeking out, Sans attempted to defend himself. "i ... i just enjoy laughing! 'm not some masochist..." He sighed, slowly pulling the blanket back down, not quite yet able to look at his brother yet, though he appreciated how sincere Papyrus sounded. "...thanks for humoring me, pap. i ... it made me happy."

~!~!~!~

"Don't mention it at all, brother! I am always willing to help you whenever you need it!" He began crawling into bed next to Sans and hugged him close. "If you need any other favors, don't hesitate to ask." He smirked teasingly. "Unless you ask me to tickle you while roleplaying as the lady behind that large door in the forest~"

~!~!~!~

Sans was finally starting to calm down, snuggling into his brother's comfortable embrace. Then he jumped again, cheeks once again flaring brightly. "papyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyrus~! don't say things like thaaaaaaaat! aaaha, geeze!"

~!~!~!~

"Nyahahahaha! What? It's just that I don't know what she looks like, let alone her name, so it'd be strange for me to play as someone I don't even know. But perhaps I could still substitute." He snickered as he poked and scribbled at Sans' ribs, teasing in a high-pitched tone. "Aww, does that tickle, Sansy-Pansy?~ You're just so cute and ticklish, sugar skull!~"

~!~!~!~

"oh gahahaha—! have mehehehehercyyyyy! aaaaaaaaha!" Sans was sure he'd die from embarrassment. He wriggled at the tickling, squirming at the teasing, hands back on his face. Finally he shot back, "you'd hahahate plahaying ahas heher anywayhee! shehe mahakes lots of johokes lihike mehee!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus grinned in a challenging way as he kept tickling. "How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh, Sansy? Tentacles! I'm sure that tickles your funny bone, huh? Tibia honest, that joke was quite humerus, wouldn't you say? I'm on femur!"

~!~!~!~

"oho no—! staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahap, stop!" Sans shrieked. "oh gahahaaaash, ahehe hahahate everythihihihiiiiing!" He tried to flop himself away from Papyrus's relentless fingers, rocking and laughing uncontrollably.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus laughed as he finally stopped. "Okay, okay, I think that's enough teasing ... for now. Don't think for a second that I'll let you live this down, though~" He giggled as he took off his scarf to drape it over the bed frame and snuggle under the blankets.

~!~!~!~

Sans gasped for breath as it stopped, lightly thumping his head into the pillow. "ghehhh—! this is so unfaiiiir! you're gonna tease me to dust, bro! aaaaaaha...—! oh, gosh, whyyyyyyyyy...~!?" He stared up at the ceiling, wishing his cheeks would stop burning.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus giggled. "Oh, don't pretend you don't like being teased every once in a while; you do it to me all the time anyway, so it's nice to see you have a taste of your own medicine."

~!~!~!~

"oh, no, no, wait a minute." Sans propped himself up on one elbow. "you're not gonna get off that easy for this. it's your turn under the magnifying glass." This wasn't how he'd intended to ask his question, but he figured it was worth a shot. "i know you went out tonight after i went to bed. where'd you go? have a secret date with someone, maybe?"

~!~!~!~

"Wh-what?!" He stiffened before chuckling nervously. "I-I didn't go out anywhere... I was here the entire time..."

~!~!~!~

"oh, c'mon, pap. your clothes were all wet when you woke me up. unless you're gonna tell me you took a shower in your scarf. a _cold_ shower, i might add. maybe having some ... entertaining thoughts there, bro?" Honestly, he wasn't usually so suggestive, but after Papyrus's merciless teasing, he figured on paying him back in the same turn.

~!~!~!~

"Nyeh? What do you—?" He stopped mid-sentence as his cheekbones flushed bright orange quick like wildfire; he finally understood what Sans was saying, and he didn't like it. "N-NO! SANS!"

~!~!~!~

Sans chuckled at his look. "all right, all right, i'm kidding. but still, i'm pretty convinced you were out unless you have a better explanation?"

~!~!~!~

"U-Umm... WELL, GOOD NIGHT!" Fast as lightning, he flopped down in bed with his back to Sans and made loud, fake snoring noises.

~!~!~!~

He should let it go. He should let Papyrus have his secrets. "nuh-uh! you're not getting away with that! it can't be as bad as what you just put me through!" Sans chuckled with a vengeful grin, poking his finger around on the blanket until he found his brother's spine — and continued poking.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus yelped and tried to wiggle his spine away. "St-Stahahap that! I won't tehehehell!"

~!~!~!~

Withdrawing, he gently placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, using his other hand under the blanket to glidingly zip a single finger up along the exposed spine. "oh, so you do have something to hide then, huh?" Sans grinned. He wasn't overly concerned with actually finding out, as long as Papyrus squirmed a little for it.

~!~!~!~

He squealed with a massive shudder. "EEEEK! N-No, I don't!"

~!~!~!~

"then why so _nerve-ous_ about it, bro?" Tapping his fingers up his brother's armor, he reached his neck, gently wiggling and scritching his fingers on all sides. "kitchy kitchyyyyyy! heheh, i gotcha now! i'll keep ticklin' until you tell me!"

~!~!~!~

"Eeep! Nyehehehehe! Th-There's nohohothing to tell!" He tilted his head to protect his neck from Sans' wiggling fingers.

~!~!~!~

"hmm, i see we're going to have to take more drastic measures," Sans said deviously before burrowing himself headfirst underneath the blanket until he'd reached Papyrus's feet, making a gentle grab for the taller skeleton's toes, oblivious to the position he'd put himself in.

~!~!~!~

"NYAAAAAH! NOT THERE, SAHAHAHAHANS!" Through his laughter and struggling he managed to grab a hold of Sans' ankles. "L-LET GO OR I'LL GEHEHET YOU BACK!"

~!~!~!~

"ghk—!" Sans curled his toes, almost letting go in surprise, but he refused to back down. "but i'm already getting _you_ back!" His voice was slightly muffled under the blanket. Bracing himself, he dug a finger between two of Papyrus's toes and twisted it around mercilessly.

~!~!~!~

"AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEHEHEHEY! NOT THAHAHAHAT!" He squealed and wiggled his toes, trying to yank his feet away as he began spider-tickling his fingers all over Sans' soles.

~!~!~!~

The bracing didn't help. "aahaheehehee! aha, noho!" His eyes arched and his fingers briefly faltered as he tugged on his own ankles. He chased his brother's feet, managing to wrestle an arm around the ankles, clawing his fingers in ticklish stress and raked over his brother's soles, giggling and snickering.

~!~!~!~

"AHAHAHAHEHEHEHE! STAHAHAP THAT! NYAHAHAHAHA!" He began to lose concentration from his own received tickling, yet struggled to keep up his own fight by scraping under Sans' toes.

~!~!~!~

"ohoho gahahahaha—! stahahahap!" Sans's fingers flexed and he pounded at the mattress with a flat palm. "eeeeehehee! nnahahaaaaaa~!" After a few moments of laughing into the bed, he regained control of his hand, prying Papyrus's toes back, wiggling fingertips underneath.

~!~!~!~

"AHAHAHAHAHA! N-NYAHAHAHAHA! SAHAHAHANS!" Nearly losing his grip on Sans' ankles, Papyrus threw his head back to howl with laughter, trying desperately to gain back control of his toes. He managed to recover from the initial shock and started tickling the tops of Sans' toes, having trouble seeing through his watery sockets.

~!~!~!~

"gheh~heheeehee! nahaahaaaheheheee! staahappiiiit" Sans curled up, relinquishing his brother's ankles, wiggling his toes frantically. "aaaahahaaa~! nohoho! no~!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus panted as the tickling finally ceased, but he refused to let up on the onslaught, using his legs to pin Sans' arms to his sides, smirking evilly and gripping his ankles tightly. "Looks like I win, brother; never challenge Tickle Master Papyrus to a tickle fight! Now, prepare for the penalty!"

~!~!~!~

"aaaaaahaaa, oh gaahahaash, nooooooooooho! no! no! nohoho!" Sans lightly struggled against his brother's legs. "okahaay, okay, you wihihin! nnhnnhnnn—!" He whined nervously in anticipation.

Though that small part of him was giddy.

~!~!~!~

"To be honest, I've always wanted to try this..." He began to experimentally nibble Sans' toes gently.

~!~!~!~

Sans's sockets flew open — this was the farthest thing he'd been expecting and he was nearly paralyzed in ticklish shock. "kkgghahaa! gaahaaaahaaa—! the hehell ihihis thaaahaaaaaat!? kkhghh~eeheheee!" He twitched violently, stretching and flailing and clawing to try to reach the end of the bed. "ihihit tihihickles! oh gahash, it tiiiiiiiiiiihihihickles~! aaaaaaaaahahaaaaaaaa!"

~!~!~!~

"Nyahahaha! I had a feeling this would tickle! Perhaps I should try this tactic on your ribs sometime!" He laughed as he nibbled a bit faster, tightening his hold on Sans' arms and torso with his legs to ensure he couldn't escape.

~!~!~!~

Sans couldn't worm himself away any further, fully immobilized in his brother's hold. "no—!" he squeaked out at the thought, shuddering, then helplessly vented laughter, head to the side, squealing. "eeeeeeeeaaaaaahahahaaaaaaaaaaa! naaaaaahaha—! n-noho mohohore! i wohon't—! you cahahaan keeeheeep your seheecret! pl—! plehe—~! pleheheeeeeeeehehease! aaaaaaaaahaha!"

~!~!~!~

"Nyeh heh heh! That's more like it! But I won't stop, not yet!" He started gliding his fingers up and down his soles as he kept nibbling his toes, even going so far as to use his own big toes to prod and poke Sans' ribs.

~!~!~!~

"aha—! aaaaaaaahaa, ihit's soho cruhuhuuuuel—! pleeheease! p-pleheee—!" His voice started to taper out, starting to laugh in shaking breaths punctuated by gasps, interspersed with squeaks. The sheet beneath his head was soaked by tears. The additional stimulus had him occasionally shivering and jolting.

~!~!~!~

"Have you forgotten the safe word? Or are you just enjoying the tickling that much?" He slowed down a bit on the tickling so Sans could have enough breath to answer.

~!~!~!~

"...sp-spa...! ghehetti...!" Sans answered croakily in defeat between silent giggles. It was all he could say at this point. The now much softer tickling still made his mind dizzy.

~!~!~!~

Chuckling evilly, he continued tickling. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?~"

~!~!~!~

Sans's sockets snapped open, feeling a small pang of anxiety. "ghh—!" He tried again. "spaaa—! aha—! gh...!" He couldn't even get the full word out now. He couldn't even wiggle his toes. It was a little scary, but he still trusted Papyrus not to hurt him. The tickling swirled over his senses, solely holding his focus.

~!~!~!~

"Aww, I'm sorry, I'm only kidding! You poor skeleton!" He giggled apologetically as he stopped tickling and let him go. "Are you okay under there, brother?"

~!~!~!~

Sans took long and deep relieving gasps of air, giving Papyrus a quiet noise of acknowledgement. He closed his eyes, resting right where he was for a little bit before attempting to right himself. Still exhausted, he could barely move. Managing to shift his now free arm, he timidly tapped Papyrus on the leg, silently asking for assistance.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus lifted up the covers until Sans was in sight, then he gently picked him up and laid him down next to him before draping the covers back over the both of them. "Well, at least you'll be able to sleep better now, right?"

~!~!~!~

Sans nodded wearily; comfortably. The few minutes of rest gave him enough breath to use his voice again. "...w's awful..."

_Wonderfully awful._ His mind supplied. He told that part of his mind to shut up.

"...th'nks, pap..."

He slipped easily into sleep.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus smiled affectionately before gently tapping his teeth against Sans' skull in a skeleton kiss, then turned out the light and snuggled next to Sans. "Good night, Sans..." He drifted off into sleep as well.


	7. Hospitality for a Human

Character Roles

Yoshachu Scorchachu ~ Papyrus  
Karnelia ~ Sans, Flowey, Frisk

* * *

Frisk smiled down at the cellphone in her hands, finishing spelling out Papyrus's name to go with the number he just gave her. He was funny and she liked him. Their date ended 'platonically', whatever that meant, but she wasn't sure how they were 'supposed' to turn out. People always acted funny when she asked them for a date, and whenever she had one, the other person would say it wasn't meant to be. She didn't know what it _was_ supposed to be, but she didn't mind; all she knew was that she had fun and hoped that the other person did, too.

Walking down the stairs, she headed for the front door, opening it, about to head off on the next part of her journey. She was determined to get home.

Time of day was somewhat more difficult to tell in the Underground, but she noticed the shadows were longer, and it was a bit harder to see what was in the distance. She shivered and rubbed her arms as the wind picked up, thick flakes of snow blowing past.

~!~!~!~

"Human! Where are you going?" Papyrus bounded to Frisk's side and scooped her up. "You can't possibly be thinking about leaving now; nighttime is approaching and it's too cold, dark, and dangerous to wander around the Underground at night. I have an idea! You can stay with us until morning! You, Sans, and I will have so much fun together; it'll be just like a slumber party! How does that sound, tiny human?"

~!~!~!~

Frisk giggled as she was lifted up, and smiled at the skeleton and his suggestion. She glanced out the door again, seeing dancing swatches of color reflecting on the snow from the string of Christmas lights that adorned the house. She was determined to get home ... but, Papyrus was probably right. It would be easier to travel in the daytime. "Okay, that sounds nice. Thanks, Papyrus!"

Sans slowly walked home, gently rubbing his skull, carrying a bottle of ketchup from Grillby's under his arm. It had been a long day of trolling the human in every way he knew how, doing his best to subtly influence her perspective. It wasn't that he didn't actually like the kid, or that he wasn't being himself, he just ... had to be cautious, after everything he'd pieced together.

Weeks ago, in his workshop, he'd found a strange drawing that hurt his mind to look at, and a frantically written letter in shaky, hasteful pen strokes. It linked the nature of determination to timelines and RESETs, and mentioned something about Papyrus and a flower, but he couldn't make it all out since it had been cut off. There was also a very strange comment of 'green and yellow' being 'dangerous' to Papyrus somehow. He'd been very disturbed to find himself stepping on a pile of dust on the floor.

He'd watched the human fight his brother in mild trepidation. He'd promised Toriel he wouldn't harm the kid, and he'd keep that promise. Even if something happened to Papyrus because of her, he wouldn't interfere. He knew she was determined. And that meant he couldn't do anything. Not really. Except try to persuade her that monsters didn't deserve to be killed. That they were people too.

But, thankfully, the fight ended well. Better than he'd anticipated, actually. And his brother and the human were going to have a little play-date afterward. He'd teleported in while they were meeting up just to prank his brother before heading to Grillby's.

And now he was home. And he saw the human still in their house. And he froze, his laid-back grin plastered on his face like a mask.

~!~!~!~

Sitting on the couch next to Frisk, Papyrus was looking down at his hands and balling them up gently. "So let me see if I have got this correctly, human: rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats rock? But why beat anything up? Why not just make the rock, paper, and scissors some spaghetti so they can be friends and not beat each other up? You humans are so strange with your beating of one's hands disguised as inanimate objects."

~!~!~!~

Frisk nodded as he recited the rules, giggling at his improvised improvements. "Hehe, it's just a game. Nobody actually gets hurt when you're playing a game."

Something about what she said had Sans unsettled. He tucked the ketchup bottle in his jacket and relaxed his posture, strolling over casually. "hey kiddo, how's it goin'?"

She looked up and waved at him with a smile.

Sans took a seat next to them, glancing at Papyrus. "kid stayin' the night?"

~!~!~!~

"She is, and I am so excited! This will be an exciting slumber party full of puzzles and japes and games and snacks and tickles and fun!" He grinned excitedly as he bounced in his seat.

~!~!~!~

Sans twitched at the 't'-word. He felt like he should be used to it by now as, true to his word, Papyrus hadn't let him live down the embarrassing discovery that happened a few weeks ago. Geez, he didn't have a problem with the word before, and now it was so disarming.

Frisk started to bounce along with Papyrus, imitating his enthusiasm. "What are we going to do first?"

~!~!~!~

"I have the perfect idea! Be right back!" Papyrus rushed to his room.

~!~!~!~

"Okay," Frisk said, calming down and gently kicking her legs, waiting.

"so, how'd the date go, kiddo?"

"Good." She giggled a little as she thought about it. "I got Papyrus's number!" Holding up her cell phone, she tapped the screen at his name.

"nice!" Sans suddenly grinned a little wider. "you should probably call him all the time. he loves getting phone calls and has a lot to say."

"Oh?" Frisk hit the call button and held the phone up to her ear.

Sans blinked, then snickered. "heh, i didn't mean right _now_, but this is great!"

~!~!~!~

By the second ring, Papyrus picked up, his voice so loud he could be heard from his bedroom as well as through the phone. "Oh! Hello, human! I suppose you couldn't go too long without hearing my melodious voice! But worry not, for I am almost done collecting the materials needed for our first few games together!"

~!~!~!~

Frisk was smiling and giggling, and that made Sans happy. Any little indication that she cared about his brother and other monsters gave him a little more hope.

She clicked off the call and put it in her pocket, waiting patiently.

Sans tried not to look as anxious as he felt. He wasn't sure what Papyrus had planned. "uhh, be right back too, kid." Hopping up, he went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Taking the ketchup bottle from his jacket, he paused, screwing off the lid and shakily touched a couple fingertips to the red paste inside, giving it a taste. Ever since he'd cleaned his own dust off his slippers, he didn't have much of an appetite anymore, practically living off condiments the last couple weeks. Papyrus didn't approve, but he couldn't tell him why. He put the lid back on and set the bottle on a free spot on his side of the fridge.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus trotted back downstairs with a small plastic bag of stuff and three pillows. "The Great Papyrus has returned! NYEH HEH HEH!" Pausing, he looked around. "Hey, human, where did my brother go?"

~!~!~!~

Frisk looked at the bag he'd brought back in curiosity, and smiled up at Papyrus. She pointed to the kitchen. "There."

Overhearing, Sans quickly closed the fridge door and walked to the entrance of the kitchen, hanging in the doorway. "here."

~!~!~!~

"Okay, little human and brother! Which activity would you like to partake in first? The pillow fight or the tickle fight?"

~!~!~!~

Sans nearly fell out of the doorway, just managing to not completely lose his cool. "hey, uhh, y'know that whole thing you were sayin' about ya'know not beating each other up and stuff? maybe we shouldn't do any fighting at all. whatsoever. heheh ... ehheh..." He rubbed at the back of his neck anxiously, looking away.

Frisk hopped up excitedly. "Maybe we can do both at once?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus gasped loudly. "You are so brilliant! Yes, we shall have our very first Pillow Tickle Fight! But what shall the rules be?"

~!~!~!~

Frisk put a hand to her chin in thought. "Hm ... have fun and don't hit anyone's face? Oh! Maybe, if someone loses hold of their pillow or someone steals it, the other two can tickle them for a minute before they get it back?"

Sans slowly and nervously crept his way toward the staircase. "welp, oh wow, i didn't know how tired i was." He faked a yawn. "might just take a quick nap. wake me for the next activity!" He put his hand on the railing.

~!~!~!~

Smirking, Papyrus used his magic to weigh Sans down by his SOUL. "And anyone who tries to flake out gets a little penalty! Ready, human? His tickle spots are his ribs and feet!"

~!~!~!~

"ghheh!" Sans sank down to the floor, managing to turn, sitting on the first step and unable to get up from the artificial gravity. "wait? what!? ahaaa, pap, no...!" They hadn't even started and he was already doomed.

Frisk giggled, climbing up a couple steps and sitting behind the smaller skeleton. She slid her hands up below his jacket, but above his shirt. Sans twisted a bit with a soft squeak. "h-hey now, k-kid... careful, there... i'm, ah, made up of _funny bones_, ya'know?" He grabbed onto the edge of the stair, not wanting to accidentally smack her if things got out of control.

The human looked up at Papyrus with a childishly devious smirk. "I'll get his ribs if you get his feet!"

Sans stiffened. "i'm sorry for tryin' to flake! a pillow ... t-tickle fight sounds fun!" He knew it was too late to backpedal, but it was at least worth a shot.

~!~!~!~

"So glad you decided to play along with us, Sans! But let's still get you warmed up for the game!" He chuckled as he kneeled down to Sans' legs, grabbing his ankles, whipping off his slippers, and immediately scribbling and twiddling his toes.

~!~!~!~

Sans wriggled and squealed, lowering his head as he gripped the stair tighter.

Frisk started up as well, her fingers feeling a little uncertain and unpracticed — probably especially because of his anatomy — though they were tiny and soft and unpredictable.

He couldn't pull on his feet without risking an uncomfortable slip off the stair and the light touch on his toes was maddening. The double assault on the two overwhelmingly sensitive spots soon had him rocking in place, laughing wildly. "kkghahahaaa! heheeeehee~! nonoho, pleeehease dohon't! ahahahaaaaa! oho gahash, staaaahahaap! gahahahaa—! ahehe thihink i'm waharmed up nahahow! eeheeehaaa!"

~!~!~!~

"Okay, human, let's stop before we overwhelm him." Papyrus stopped, giggling. "I'll need to teach you how to properly tickle his ribs sometime. Also, Sans and I have decided on a safe word to use whenever they're being pushed over the limit, so make sure to stop immediately when they shout 'spaghetti'."

~!~!~!~

Frisk stopped tickling but kept her arms hugged loosely around Sans's middle, propping her chin on his shoulder as she listened, nodding with an agreeing, "Okay."

Sans sighed, cheeks already a bit tinged. Geeze, he wished the human wouldn't have witnessed how ticklish he was... How embarrassing! But at least she seemed like a good listener about when to stop.

~!~!~!~

"Alright! Let the Pillow Tickle Fight begin!" Papyrus tossed Sans and Frisk a pillow before grabbing one of his own and lightly smacking them each in the face, then bounded off to the center of the room and prepared for their counterattack.

~!~!~!~

"Heyyyy~hee! Haha!" Frisk giggled loudly, taking her pillow and chasing after Papyrus.

"oof—! heh, okay, it's on...!" Sans fluffed his pillow, standing up with a slightly narrow-eyed grin, starting to feel the spirit of things. Luckily the pillows they owned were extraordinarily soft, so Sans could withstand a pretty forceful clock with them without it affecting his HP. Plus, intent was everything, and so far as he'd seen, the human hadn't tried hurting anyone, and he obviously knew the last thing his brother wanted was to hurt him, so he wasn't fearful for his life.

As Frisk started to playfully pummel at Papyrus's legs, Sans made his way over a bit leisurely, using his own pillow to make some protective blocks on behalf of the kid as he waited for his chance. He made a calculated poke and scritch at Papyrus's spine with his fingers.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus giggled giddily at Frisk's assault on his legs, lightly smacking her head and back with his own pillow, but squealed and nearly fell over as he tried to escape Sans' teasing spine tickles. "S-SAHAHANS! EHEHEHEE!"

~!~!~!~

"heheheh! go for the knees while i got 'im distracted, kiddo!"

Swiping some stray mussed up hair away from her face, Frisk dove for the taller skeleton's legs. Holding her pillow under one arm, she grabbed at his knees, scribbling with her fingers, giggling all the while.

Sans kept up his assault as well, swinging with his pillow and darting his fingers to his brother's spine when there was an opening.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus squealed and tried to bounce away, finding Frisk's soft, fleshy fingers much more tickly than bony ones. "N-NYAHAHAAHA! HEHEHEY, THAT'S NOT FAHAHA-WHOA!" He ended up tripping over his own feet in an attempt to back away and collapses to the ground, his pillow flying out of his hand.

~!~!~!~

Thrilled chuckles rang out from the smaller skeleton as he approached his downed brother. "looks like you get to pay the pillow penalty, bro." He gently clenched his fingers, lazily swiping downward in the air, using his magic to keep Papyrus lightly pinned. "hey, kid, you should give that backbone of his a try, he finds it pretty ... _spine-tingling_." Snickering heartily, he set his pillow down on top of Papyrus's ankles and climbed on, giving his brother's toes the same treatment he'd just received.

Frisk pounced up next to Papyrus's middle, giving his spine curious prods and finger wiggles as she giddily snickered.

~!~!~!~

Grinning and giggling nervously up until the tickling began, Papyrus burst out laughing. He slapped his hands on either side of him as he struggled to keep them out of Frisk's way. "NYAAAAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHA! EHEHEEHEHAHAHAAHAA! OH, GAHAHASH!"

~!~!~!~

Glancing back with an evil smirk, Sans teased, "whoops, forgot to start timing. how will we know when a minute's passed? maybe we should count in tickles, heheh. ooooone-tickle, twoooo-tickles, three-tickle-tickles..."

Frisk's fingers grew a little more confident, spidering and stroking up and down, prodding at the vertebrae.

Sans made it to, "ten-tickly-tihickles ...—!" before he dissolved into laughter, unable to keep it up. "heheheh, naw, that's probably good enough." Sliding off his ankles, he took his pillow with him, retrieving his brother's and gave him a gentle whack on his skull. "here, bro." He lifted his spell and dropped the pillow on Papyrus's chest.

Frisk withdrew as well, clutching her pillow, now giggling a bit nervously, but smiling widely.

~!~!~!~

The new method of teasing was absolutely devastating and, combined with Frisk's growing confidence in her tickling, Papyrus fell into uncontrollable laughter where he couldn't even utter a word, wiggling his toes and flailing his arms all the while. Once the tickling stopped, he fell limp and panted heavily, letting out a startled grunt as Sans smacked his pillow against his head.

~!~!~!~

Sans stood back a bit, waiting for his brother to get up on his own.

Frisk, however, cautiously approached him in concern, nudging at him softly with her toe. "Are you okay, Papyrus...?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus smiled tiredly up at Frisk as he slowly worked his way up to his feet, still panting a bit. "D-Don't worry, tiny human. The Great Papyrus is perfectly fine. A little tired, but fine. You have quite the potential in becoming a tickle master just like Tickle Master Papyrus! Nyeh heh heh!"

~!~!~!~

She smiled, giggling. "Really?"

Sans took the opportunity to snatch the pillow from her arms while she was distracted. "heheh, well, let's find out how ticklish you are first, squirt."

"Heeeyyy!" She squealed, reaching to try to get it back before dashing away from Sans's own grabbing fingers.

"nuh-uh, no flaking out, kiddo!" Sans grinned, catching her by the SOUL instead, very gently lifting her up to a hover in front of Papyrus. He didn't want to double-team her off the bat in case it would be too much for the tiny girl. "wanna lay down the law, bro?"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus giggled a bit. "The rules to the Pillow Tickle Fight, as stated by Frisk the tiny human, include tickling someone for a minute should their pillow be dropped or stolen by someone else. Sorry, tiny human, but we need to follow the rules; I had to, and Sans will have to once his time comes."

~!~!~!~

Sans twitched at the last bit, giving Papyrus the softest possible glare, though he was still grinning.

Frisk giggled, squirming a bit in the air in anticipation as her own rules were stated back to her. "Okay, okay! Haha!"

"i'll hold the kid, you deliver the penalty, heh." Sans lowered her slowly and gingerly to the floor on her back, keeping the pressure light, but enough to keep her in place.

~!~!~!~

"Hmmm... Where to begin... Well, I am quite fond of your squishy belly! It's just so pokable!" He grinned as he began to gently poke Frisk's belly and sides.

~!~!~!~

Frisk squeaked through her giggles, bringing her hands up to her mouth. The firm, bony fingers made the pokes rather potent. "Hehe! Aha! Eee! Ehehe!" It tickled a lot, but she was enjoying the attention.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus started to gently squeeze her sides. "I like all this squishy skin and stuff you have, it's fun to poke and squeeze! Nyehehehee!"

~!~!~!~

"Eeeeahaahaa!" Squirming and lightly kicking her legs, Frisk finally wrapped her arms around herself protectively. "It tihickles! Eeheheheee~!" She found it funny that the skeleton was so fascinated by the components he lacked, and that made her laugh harder through her squealing.

~!~!~!~

He slowed to very gentle pokes on her belly. "Would you like a break before we continue your tickle penalty?"

~!~!~!~

"Ehe~! Mhmhmm!" Despite still-escaping giggles, she managed to catch her breath back for the most part. Her struggles slowed, and she grinned up at Papyrus, shaking her head. "Hehe! I'll use thahat word like you sahaid if I need a breheak. Aha! Hmhmhm!" Papyrus was so nice, she thought, and so much fun!

~!~!~!~

"Nyeheheh, I'll give you a break anyway, just so I don't overwhelm you." He stopped tickling and giggled as she struggled to catch her breath. "Having fun, human?"

~!~!~!~

Frisk sprawled out as he stopped completely, lightly panting, though smiling warmly. "Uh-huh! You're both so funny, it's fun to play with you."

~!~!~!~

"Aww, thank you, little human! You are a lot of fun to play with, too!" He hugged Frisk before pulling in Sans as well. "GROUP HUG!"

~!~!~!~

She giggled and hummed, happily hugging back.

Sans let out a noise of slight surprise as he was yanked in, but leaned against his brother, comfortably, sliding an arm around the small human as well. Everything seemed so nice. Maybe ... maybe he really could trust her. He desperately hoped he could.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus smirked playfully as he used his lanky arms and legs to trap them in his embrace before poking Frisk's side and Sans' ribs. "Nyeh heh heh! You both have fallen into the Great Papyrus' tickle trap!"

~!~!~!~

Both of them startled at once, Frisk squealing, Sans squeaking, giggling against each other.

Feeling playful, Sans kicked up the dramatics. "aahaha! oho no! but you ohonly wahanted to cahapture a humahan, broho! ahehe'm juhust ahan innocehent monster! haahahaa!"

~!~!~!~

"Well, I see capturing my brother as a bonus!" He wiggled his fingers along Sans' ribs and Frisk's side and belly, giggling alongside them.

~!~!~!~

Sans threw his head back up against Papyrus, squealing and squirming.

Frisk's giggling jumped in pitch as she twisted around.

"wehehe gahatta mahake a breheak for ihit, kihid! hehe cahahan't hohold us if wehe work togehether!" Sans started to struggle a little harder, trying to fight against the tight hold.

Taking his cue, Frisk attempted to worm away as well, wiggling around and pushing as much as she could with her limbs.

~!~!~!~

"A-Ack—!" Papyrus was beginning to lose his grip on them, and so he tickled much faster and harder to try and subdue them.

~!~!~!~

"aaahaa! noho! nnahahahaaaa!"

"Haahahaa! Hehehahaaha~!"

Their efforts were greatly weakened as more laughter was squeezed out of them, and they slumped back against each other, their struggles now only reflexive.

"oho no, ihit wahasn't enough! yohou're toohoo good, pahahap! ahahaaaaa!"

~!~!~!~

"NYAH HA HA! Tickle Master Papyrus always wins! Just don't forget that this is all for fun, so if you need a break, remember the safe word is 'spaghetti'." He gave Frisk's sides and belly little squeezes and pinches as he wiggled and twiddled Sans' ribs.

~!~!~!~

More squealing pealed from Frisk; Papyrus seemed to enjoy the texture and elasticity of her midsection as he was fully taking advantage of it, and she found that all the more funny.

Sans gasped sharply, shivering and shuddering. "ggheehee! oho gahash, nahat thaha—! okayheeehehee! okahay, i'm dohone! spahahaghettihihi! eeheehe!"

~!~!~!~

"Oh, wow, Sans, you're so weak!" Papyrus laughed playfully as he stops tickling Sans, but he still kept him trapped in his hold, now using his free hand to lightly tickle Frisk's neck and under her chin.

~!~!~!~

Sans pouted, but he took the opportunity to rest anyway, catching his breath. He was a bit taken by surprise at the endurance of the kid, but he didn't want to make any comments acknowledging that he'd been outlasted by a child.

Frisk pinned down her chin, squeaking as his slender fingers teased the next vulnerable spot. "Heehehee! Ehe! Ahaa!"

~!~!~!~

"As much as I would love to continue, your tickle penalty has expired. I shall let you both free now!" He let them both go before handing them their pillows again and grabbing his own.

~!~!~!~

Sans gripped his pillow, sights now back on his brother as he got up and cautiously approached, taking a few swings at Papyrus's chest.

Frisk, however, crept up behind Sans, giving him a light blow to the legs.

"gh—! oof! aaha, hey, i thought we were a team on this one!" He half turned, aiming a smack back at her.

She rolled out of the way, giggling.

~!~!~!~

Once Sans' back was turned to him, Papyrus began smacking the back of his head many times over. "HUMAN, GRAB HIS PILLOW!"

~!~!~!~

"ghhk—! aha! aaaah!" Sans raised his free hand, trying to fend off the blows, doubling over in chuckles. He tried to keep his pillow out of reach, but couldn't concentrate and, in seconds, his fingers were empty. "aha, geeze—!"

~!~!~!~

"NYAH!" Papyrus pounced on Sans and pinned him down with his limbs. "Now it's your turn for the tickle penalty! Frisk, tickle where you'd like!"

~!~!~!~

Frisk flopped down beside the smaller skeleton, straddling over his spine, looking down at him.

Sans peered up at her a little wearily in resignation, arms pinned by Papyrus loosely over his head. He wasn't sure he liked the curious expression she was giving him.

Slipping fingers under his jacket again, she felt her way up, settling just under his arms before experimentally wiggling.

Sans was confused for a moment, but then her intent resonated soundly with his magic and he arched his back with a loud, shocked squeal — though he was no less confused. "oho gahaaaa—! whahat ahare you doohooing!? whahat ihis thaaaahahat!? aaahahaaa! stahahaappit! staaaahaap! ahaaaaaaha!"

~!~!~!~

"Wowie, human! Whatever it is you're doing, it seems to make him laugh as hard as when his sweet spot on the back of his ribs are tickled! What are you doing in there anyway?" He managed to hold Sans still with ease.

~!~!~!~

Frisk stopped for a moment, looking at Papyrus with a smile and a shrug. "It's a pretty ticklish spot on humans, so I thought I'd try."

Sans was still twitching and a little dizzy, his magic tingling unbearably, reminding him of when Papyrus tried that strange blowing technique on his ribs. Magic and intent was a little funny like that sometimes. "oho, gahasssh, noohoho! don't give pap ideas on more places to tickle meheee!" he lamented in a whine.

Frisk giggled with a "Sorry!" that sounded too happy to be sincere. It definitely wasn't sincere as she jumped right back into it, now wiggling her fingers in the hollow spots without mercy.

"kkgghaaaaaaaaahaha! aaiiee, staaahaaaaaaap! nohohoho! pleehease! pleasepleeeeeeeeehehe—! ahahahaaaaaaa—~!"

~!~!~!~

"I hope you don't mind if I try!" Holding down Sans' wrists with one hand, Papyrus used the other to tickle under one of his arms with his lithe fingers, scraping his fingertips against the tip of his humerus bone and wiggling them in the hollow pit, giggling all the while. "Looks like we've found a new sweet spot!~"

~!~!~!~

Sans turned his head in the opposite direction of the arm his brother chose, tugging desperately on his arms, curling the fingers of his hands against each other. "aiiiieeeee—~! pleeeehease! ihit's toohoo tihicklish! ahehe cahaan't—! cahan't tahake ihit!" He squirmed and bucked as much as he could.

"Could you show me his other sweet spot?" Frisk asked excitedly.

"ahehehee hahahate you, pahahahap! ahahahaaaaaaaa!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus ignored Sans and let out an excited laugh. "Of course! There are plenty of spots and methods of tickling that drive him up the wall; we'd might as well go through them all!" He turned Sans' SOUL blue so he couldn't escape and gestured for Frisk to sit by his ankles, and Papyrus pinned them down. "Unfortunately, I don't have a toothbrush on hand, so we'll have to do that some other time. But one method of tickling I found out just recently is this!" He demonstrated by gently nibbling Sans' toes.

~!~!~!~

Frisk eagerly scampered to sit next to Papyrus.

"aaaah! pap, no! don't do this to meeheeeee!" Sans snapped his arms down as soon as they were free and he shuddered, gently clutching his shirt. His fingers squeezed around the fabric as his brother's teeth gingerly touched his toes. "kkhahahaaaa! nnahaaaha—! stahappit~staaaaahappihihiiit, oh gahaaaasssh! pleeeeeeehehease!"

"That doesn't hurt?" Frisk asked, watching in fascination.

"nohohoho, it doehehesn't! gaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaha!"

~!~!~!~

"You have to be extremely gentle when doing this. It may become a bit difficult if he wiggles his toes, though, especially for you since your nerves may hurt if his bony toes collide too hard into your teeth. Perhaps you shouldn't try this tactic yet."

~!~!~!~

"Hehe, okay. I'll leave the more advanced tickle techniques to you." She giggled.

Sans tried to wiggle away the tingles from his toes while he had a chance, breathing hard, trying to fight the blush on his cheeks as Papyrus gave away all his weaknesses to the supposed sworn enemy of monsterkind.

~!~!~!~

"Let's go to the ribs next, then!" Pouncing to Sans' torso, Papyrus pinned his arms over his head with a hand once again, lifting up his shirt with the other. "I've only tried this once, but it seems to be very effective; I'm certain you can do this easily, especially since my magic is keeping his chest pinned." He inhaled deeply before blowing a raspberry on his sternum.

~!~!~!~

Sans whimpered as his wrists were dragged back up again, squirming even before Papyrus did anything, then arching and throwing his head back in a howl. "aaaaaaaaaaahahaaaaa! nahaaahat thaaaahahat! staaaaaaahaaaaaap! oh no, nonononohohoho, stahahahaaaaaaaaap—~!" His magic sparked and tingled intensely in the aftermath and he couldn't stop giggling, eyes wide and nearly delirious.

"Hehe, that looks like fun!" When Papyrus finished, Frisk leaned over, her short hair falling across Sans's ribs which made him shiver. She took a deep breath before razzing the sternum as she had been shown.

It was different when the human did it, Sans managed to think with the coherent thought he had left. Her buzzing lips radiated overwhelming tingles more through his bones than his magic, which was nearly akin to the toothbrush, but somehow _worse_. "ghaaaaaaaaaaiieeeeee~! oh gaha—! i caha—! pleeeeeheea—~! pleehehease, nohoho! aaaaaaaahahaaaa!"

~!~!~!~

Papyrus giggled and waited for Frisk to finish. "Now here's another tactic I like to use on him. Gently take a rib between two fingers like so," He gently gripped Sans' lower rib in his index finger and thumb, "and wiggle it around like you would a toe. Giving it tiny little squeezes will also increase ticklishness. Like this." He started to wiggle and twiddle his rib, lightly squeezing it as he did so.

~!~!~!~

"noho! n-naaheeheheeeee! eeeeheheeeeeee~! pleeeheeeeease! you're kihihillin' meeeeeheeehee! ehe—~! heeheeeee! whyyyyheheheheee...~!" Tears dripped and rolled from his tightly arched eyes, grin stretched out broadly in his squeaky giggling. He couldn't take it, but he would. Even if it drove him insane, he'd realized his brother and the human were furthering their bonding, and they needed that. The entire Underground needed that. Because if this child didn't care deeply about them, she might be susceptible to the power she wielded. Sans hated to think like that — she seemed like a sweet kid, but he knew the power of determination had messed with them all — had personally killed him. He didn't know if it had been her, maybe she hadn't even used her power. But he couldn't afford to take any chances. Especially if she started to think of their lives as a game.

Frisk giggled, tentatively reaching a hand and softly taking hold of one of Sans's ribs, copying Papyrus's movements. Sans jolted and rocked in place. Her fingers were unbearably velvety in comparison to Papyrus's bony fingers, but her technique wasn't quite up to par. "kkeeeeeheeeeee! ihihit tihickles! ihihit's soho bahaahad! pl—! pleheheease! ghehehh~! eeeeeheeheeeee—~!"

~!~!~!~

"You're a natural! Now there's one last spot, and this is the most sensitive, as well as my personal favorite place to tickle." He flipped Sans over on his back and pinned his arms down, lifting up the back of his hoodie and shirt to expose his ribs and spine. "See the little grooves where the spine and ribs meet? If you gently glide your fingers in there, it will drive him wild. The softer and slower you tickle, the worse it'll tickle for him. See?" He very lightly and slowly glided his fingers up and down the grooves in his ribs.

~!~!~!~

Sans didn't even protest as he was rolled over, too exhausted, and sure it'd be over soon anyway if he complied. But he still was extremely nervous, already lightly twisting in anticipation, feeling the gliding fingers that Papyrus so delightedly described before they were even used. And when they were, it tickled like hell.

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee—~! pleeeheeee—! pleeeheasepleasepleaheheheheeeeeeese! aaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaa! nahaahat thaahat! noho mohohohore! oh, gahahahaash, staaaaaaaahahaaap! eeeeeheeeeeeeheeeeee...~!"

He squirmed around as much as he could, trying to shake off the agonizingly teasing touch, but he couldn't do much with his SOUL weighed down. His cheeks were burning blue and he was glad he was face down for that much at the very least.

When Frisk's soft fingers landed along with his brothers', Sans tensed up in ticklish paralysis, voice lost in a shrill squeaky squeal. He laughed silently, mind completely consumed for the moment. "...hh...~! mehercyyyyyyyyyyheheheheeeee...—~!"

~!~!~!~

"Hmmm ... I wonder..." He leaned in to whisper something in Frisk's ear, somehow managing to lower his voice enough to keep Sans from hearing. "Could you try blowing a raspberry on his sweet spot? My mouth may be too large to reach it."

~!~!~!~

Frisk giggled conspiratorially. Hugging her arms around the small skeleton, she leaned down, nuzzling down against the back of his ribs which made him lightly jump. Taking a breath, she noisily buzzed into one of the grooves.

Sans felt like he was on the ceiling, completely detached from everything but the sensation that he both hated and loved so much. He wasn't sure if he was struggling, or laughing, or sobbing, feeling like he was doing all and none at once. The safe word conjured in his mind, but he wasn't sure if it had made it out of his mouth or not.

Flowey smirked in satisfaction at the scene through the window in front of him. He'd learned quite a bit from his favorite skeletal toy in those wonderfully intriguing minutes. Those idiots had been undoing all the hard work he was attempting to set up. But not all was lost. He knew she'd realize the power that she had eventually, how she would be curious to see how things might play out differently. And then he could put his plans into motion. He was glad he'd decided to keep an eye on her tonight. That smiley trashbag was really going to suffer before this was all through.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus laughed before gently patting Frisk's back. "Okay, I think that's enough tickling for the poor guy... for now anyway." He subsided the spell on his SOUL and pulled his shirt back down. "You okay, Sans?"

~!~!~!~

Frisk nodded and sat up. "Wow, that was really fun. Thanks for showing me all that, Papyrus!"

Sans panted and wheezed, unmoving, his senses slowly trickling back. "...hff ... huh?" Blue was still lightly painted over his cheeks, and he felt lightheaded and dizzy. His bones and magic were both tingling awfully and wonderfully. "...'m ok'y ... i th'nk..." A few lingering tears rolled from his sockets, tickling unbearably in the sensitive aftermath, but he didn't have the energy to wipe them away.

~!~!~!~

Papyrus took off his scarf, using it to gently wipe away Sans' tears. "Did you have fun, Sans? You must've if you didn't use the safe word."

~!~!~!~-

Sans glanced up gratefully through drooping sockets in relief. He wasn't sure how to answer the question; any simple answer he gave wouldn't be entirely honest or even entirely false. Plus, if he told Papyrus that it was torture, his brother would probably feel bad and be concerned. But if he said he had enjoyed it, they might want to try driving him crazy again later, which was a terrifying thought. _And a thrilling one_. He didn't have the energy to argue with himself.

So instead, he said, "...w's a _rib-t'ckl'n_ exp'rience ... heh..."

~!~!~!~

"Good grief, Sans, you're relentless! But I suppose I'll let it slide. We did do quite a number on you. Would you like to rest? Frisk and I can continue playing if you want to."

~!~!~!~

Sans smiled a little wider for a moment, then closed his eyes. "...yeah ... hh ... please. a-and wat'r..."

Frisk tentatively reached over and softly started petting at his skull. "Sorry for making you so tired, Sans." She sounded like she meant it this time.

Sans blinked his eyes open in surprise at the touch, then gave a pleased sigh. He could feel her intent so strongly, so very much the opposite of harm. How could he have doubted her? "...mm ... th'nks kid. glad you h'd fun."

~!~!~!~

"I'll be right back, tiny human." He scooped Sans up and carried him up to his room. "It is getting rather late. Perhaps it's time for you to go to bed. You can sleep in my bed again if you'd like."

~!~!~!~

"okay," Sans said agreeably and non-specifically, eyes closed, not really caring which bed he went to.

Frisk hopped up and trotted to the kitchen, opening the fridge and finding a water bottle. Taking it with her, she followed Papyrus up the stairs, holding it up. "Here, for Sans."

~!~!~!~

"Wowie! Thank you, Frisk!" Taking and opening it, Papyrus handed it to Sans, helping him hold and drink it as his brother's strength still hadn't returned completely yet.

~!~!~!~

Sans gulped the water down gratefully, before realizing how he must look and sputtered. "ghhuh! oh, gosh, this makes me feel like a baby bones. how embarrassing! ugh!" But he chuckled with a small sigh, shakily grabbing at the bottle for more until he felt somewhat more refreshed. "thanks, guys."

Frisk giggled, hanging back until Sans was put to bed.

~!~!~!~

"Of course, brother. Get some rest, and we'll see you in the morning." He gently tapped Sans' skull in a skeletal kiss after draping the blankets over him.


End file.
